Helping the Hungry

GAMBIER, Ohio (January 2, 2009)

The holiday season was truly a season of giving at Kenyon, as the campus community raised more than $12,000 to help the hungry in Knox County. The money, along with donated canned goods, went to Food for the Hungry, the local group that holds an annual drive to help the needy.

The campus effort embraced activities literary, culinary, musical, and athletic. The Kenyon Review raised almost $4,000 at the Empty Bowls dinner and the Writers' Harvest reading, both part of the journal's literary festival in November. Profits from the sale of the new Gambier Community Cookbook also went to the cause, adding another $4,000.

Harcourt Parish families raised $3,600 and also collected canned goods. Other donations came from around the campus community and village of Gambier. In addition, community members were encouraged to bring cans of food to a number of campus events, including concerts, varsity games, the president's holiday reception, and the PACT (Presidential Advisory and Communications Team) holiday lunch.

Started in 1982, Food for the Hungry helps Interchurch Social Services and the Salvation Army stock their food pantries and provide financial assistance to needy families in the county. The drive has become a major charitable event, which this year exceeded its goal of $150,000 and fifty truckloads of food.