November 19, 2008
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Contact: Felicia J. Prater
305-205-4236

Student-Athlete Advisory Committee Successfully Completes Food Drive

Northampton, MA: The Food Bank of Western Massachusetts gladly accepted more than a thousand pounds of canned goods and non-perishable items from Smith College's Student-Athlete Advisory Committee (SAAC). SAAC, which is a NCAA sponsored organization, collected the half ton of items during its annual food drive.

Every Halloween, the student-athletes take to the streets of Northampton and go door to door collecting items from homes throughout the Smith community. A new component of the event added this year included a competition between the residential houses on campus. The event, opened to students from the residential houses who were partnered with faculty & staff from campus departments, focused on building community relationships, bringing awareness to the rising food costs and assisting families in need due to the current economic woes. The food drive competition began on October 20 and continued thru November 17.

The total amount of items collected weighed in at 1,050 pounds. More than 81 individuals or 27 families will benefit from this event. SAAC has been involved with various community projects and looks to continue their food drive and solidify the competition as a SAAC tradition next year.