Trick or Feed, an annual food drive put on by the Service Action Leadership Team to benefit Meals on Wheels Plus and Groceries on Wheels program, is gearing up to collect food on Halloween.
Rachel Ritchie, SALT administrative officer, and Maxwell Moore, SALT publicity officer, started the Trick or Feed program in 2012.
“Rachel and I were delivery drivers for Meals on Wheels, and two years ago they called us and asked SALT to help them with a food drive,” said Moore, senior biochemistry major from Abilene.
Meals on Wheels Plus is an Abilene-based nonprofit business that delivers meals to Abilene residents. Their other program, Groceries on Wheels, allows volunteers to deliver one bag of groceries to residents who are unable to buy their own once a month.
The Trick or Feed process has three parts: volunteers sign up and join a group, then, Friday and Saturday, volunteers will go out into the community and place flyers attached to a paper bag on Abilene residents’ door steps. On Halloween, volunteers will return to the community and pick up the bags filled with food.
The event currently has about 80 volunteers, but Ritchie said they are expecting around around 200 to sign up by the deadline on Thursday.
“We really want to encourage people to participate,” said Ritchie, senior biology major from Abilene. “It’s really fun, and you can make a huge impact by participating. Plus, everyone gets a free T-shirt.”
To spread the word, flyers have been sent to dorms and have been placed around campus. A table will be in the Campus Center from Monday to Thursday with sign-up sheets.
“We’ve gotten great response from several dorms and clubs on campus, especially from the Kojies and the Biology Research Club,” Moore said. “They’re getting really involved.”
The program has grown tremendously since its first year.
“In 2012, we had about 13 people involved and gathered over 550 pounds of food,” Ritchie said. “Last year, we had over 150 people involved and we had over 8,200 pounds of food raised. Meals on Wheels was able to use that amount of food for over four months.”
This year, SALT has over 9,000 bags to be filled with donations.
“My favorite part is, after the donations are collected, seeing the entire floor covered with bags full of food,” Moore said. “It’s awesome getting to see the people at Meals on Wheels be so excited about it and being able to help the people who dedicate their lives to helping others. It’s really a God thing.”
Volunteers can sign up until Oct. 23 in the Campus Center or online at http://goo.gl/EMmJ64.
