The Center of Education and Human Services finished their annual MLK Day of Service Residence Hall Food Drive.

The event was from Jan. 11-Jan. 20. and participants dropped off nonperishable food and supplies to different buildings across campus.

“Our mission in Residence Life is to provide students with opportunities to grow in a safe, inclusive and relational home,” said Shannon Kaczmarek, director of Residence Life. “Part of what makes a place feel like home is having access to the things you need on a day to day basis. Our students come from all different walks of life, and no matter how you got to ACU or where you are from, we want to be thinking about how to help someone feel at home.”

The supplies donated were put directly back into the pantries in the residence halls for students to use. The supplies ranged from bars of soap to dry pasta and sugar.

“We had fantastic participation in the drive this year and were able to provide many items to fill the pantries,” said Dr. Jennifer Shewmaker, dean of the college of education and human services. “Each of our collection boxes was well filled, and several were overflowing, allowing us to fill more boxes.”

The drive is already over, but students in the dorms can drop off supplies to the pantries at any time. If you aren’t a part of a residence hall, opportunities to donate will be available later in the year. Until then, you can contact Residence Life at reslife@acu.edu to learn more about contributing to the pantries.

“The involvement from our faculty and staff is huge when it comes to ACU in general providing for some of the basic needs of our students,” Kaczmarek said. “I think the drive was a great way to engage some of our faculty in serving our students in a very relevant and personal way.”