SG raising money to send 100,000 food packages to struggling countries
After holding a small-scale meal-packing event in the spring, Student Government is looking to up the stakes at next month’s Pack-A-Thon event.
Sponsored by SG and the Interfaith Ministry, Pack-A-Thon consists of students packing meals for people who are hungry in developing countries like Haiti, Jamaica and Sri Lanka.
SG joined the Interfaith Ministry last semester in the smaller Pack-A-Thon as part of the One Columbia CityServe, when between 50 and 60 people participated.
This semester, SG aims to pack 100,000 meals of rice, soy protein, dehydrated vegetables and powdered vitamins. Each meal and its shipping cost about 25 cents.
Second-year business economics student Rachel Kitchens has been overseeing preparation for the event as the secretary of community service in Student Body President Chase Mizzell’s cabinet.
“We want to come together as a campus to pack these ingredients that go abroad to school children who are hungry,” Kitchens said. “Each person packs 240 meals, which is enough to feed the children for a year.”
Kitchens described Pack-A-Thon as a transparent event, in the sense that someone can raise funds, pack the lunches and travel to see them delivered to the children with the Feed the Hunger organization, if they so choose.
“No matter what kind of club or organization you’re in, everybody can rally around this,” Kitchens said. “We’re encouraging organizations to [raise funds] as a team and then send individuals to the packing event.”
SG has also been working on an online fundraising platform, similar to those of Dance Marathon and Relay for Life, Kitchens said, adding that Feed the Hunger is waiting to see if the USC fundraising is something that they’ll want to broadcast to other participants.
Without a budget for Pack-A-Thon, SG has been searching for corporate sponsorships to help cover the cost of participating with the help of the Alpha Kappa Psi business fraternity.
“We basically went into this with no budget of our own, so we’re relying on the fundraising efforts of the people participating,” Kitchens said. “We’re really asking people to utilize their networks and utilize their friends and family to [raise funds] for this organization.”
Kitchens has been working closely with second-year psychology student Emma Satzger and fourth-year hospitality management student Megan Frank to secure the venue, figure out fundraising and recruit participants.
“It has been a learning experience to build this from the bottom, but ultimately, I feel like it’ll be successful,” Kitchens said. “We’re all really passionate about it.”
Those interested are encouraged to visit http://crowdrise.com/uscpackathon to sign up and create a fundraising page. In a few weeks, a sign-up sheet will be sent to people who have registered to coordinate shifts for the November event. Registration will close on Oct. 25.