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Campus food, clothing drives help the community

CSU Monterey Bay is embracing the spirit of the holiday season with a flurry of charitable activities intended to help the local community.

• Representatives from the Food Bank for Monterey County loaded hundreds of pounds of canned goods into a delivery truck parked at the World Theater on Nov. 13. The haul – totaling more than two tons of people and pet food – was collected a few days earlier when the rock band December People performed at the theater. To earn a discount on the ticket price for the Nov. 8 performance, the capacity crowd was asked to bring cans of food.

The drive was a collaboration between the World Theater and radio station HIPPO 104.3 FM. The donations were given to the food bank, the local SPCA and the Santa Cruz animal shelter.

• Through the generosity of CSUMB students, staff and faculty and the sponsorship of Sodexo, the university’s food service provider, the Stop Hunger drive netted 900 pounds of food in time to reach needy families for Thanksgiving.

Sodexo holds the drive every October and November. Students can contribute non-perishable food items or donate meal plan blocks which campus dining converts into cash, matches the total and uses to purchase bulk items such as bags of rice, beans, canned fruit, canned milk and vegetables.

• The Multi-Cultural Greek Council held a food drive to benefit Dorothy’s Place Hospitality Center in Salinas.

• Anjelica Hererra and her Sigma Theta Psi sorority sisters are collecting all things warm and cozy –¬ coats, sweaters, socks, gloves, scarves and blankets – to be distributed to the homeless in the Chinatown area of Salinas. Donations will be accepted through the end of November. To arrange a pick-up, contact stp.zeta.communityservice@gmail.com.

• The University Police Department is participating in the annual Crime Prevention Officers Association toy drive. New, unwrapped toys can be placed in a barrel in the UPD lobby through Dec. 17. Photos Above: World Theater staff members with food donations collected at the December People concert Photo courtesy of Laurie Roberts Below: Students signed cards to indicate they had donated to the Stop Hunger food drive. The cards are on display in the Dining Commons Photo courtesy of Madeline Britt