Members of the Epsilon Chi chapter of Lambda Chi Alpha can boast that their dining hall holds the most food of any of the fraternity houses on the row. That is because currently 4,000-5,000 pounds of canned goods are residing in their dining hall, taking up almost a quarter of the space in the room. Last week the fraternity hosted a door-to-door food drive campaign in Starkville in an effort to raise 55,000 pounds of food for the North American Food Drive, their national philanthropy.
Families in Starkville were given empty grocery bags last week and were asked to fill the bags with canned items.
“We divided 60 guys into 10 teams and divided the city of Starkville into 10 sections and handed out grocery bags to people in the community. Saturday morning we drove around town and picked up the bags full of food,” said member Charlie Swanson. “Each family was encouraged to participate.”
Steve Aufdenkampe, Lambda Chi’s vice president, said that of the 2,000 bags that were passed out during the week, 5 to 10 percent of them were returned. As of now, the exact weight of the cans collected is unknown.
The community food drive was locally co-sponsored by FoodMax and The Lodge and was the second phase of a yearlong campaign. The first phase was the annual Watermelon Fest, a weeklong competition between the freshmen pledge class of each sorority, featuring volleyball matches and other games and contests. One of the contests was a competition to see which sorority will bring in the most canned goods. “What we raised this weekend was nothing compared to what the sororities do for Watermelon Fest,” said Aufdenkampe. He also said plans are in the works for several other events in the spring to raise more canned goods, including a free concert at the Mississippi State amphitheater. The group hopes to get lots of sponsors to help organize this event.
Once the canned goods have been counted, truckloads of cans will be carried to the Oktibbeha County food bank where they will be given out to people in the area. “Every single pound of food donated stays in the city of Starkville to help the needy we each encounter during the time we live here,” said Swanson.
Phillip Greer, a junior and a member of Lambda Chi, appreciates being involved with the group’s philanthropy. “The food drive gives us a chance to get our name out there for being something other than just a social club,” he said.
Internationally, Lambda Chi Alpha plans to raise over 3 million pounds of food in conjunction with the North American Food Drive.