Sweet Home Carolina Homecoming week continued with Cocky's Canned Creations on Oct. 25, where multiple organizations took canned food donations and constructed campus-themed creations.
Cocky's Canned Creations is homecoming's service event. All the canned goods go to Gamecock Pantry, which is a food pantry for USC students who can confidentially receive free canned foods with a limit of 15 items per week.
The organizations competed to assemble the most structurally sound and unique creation to the win the competition. Each homecoming event awards set points, with the organization that takes the most points taking home the Homecoming Cup. First place winners were Alpha Chi Omega and Lambda Chi Alpha, while the second place winners were Phi Mu and Phi Kappa Tau.
Delaney Ruth, executive commissioner of homecoming, believes the event serves as a way for the organizations to give back to the USC community in a purposeful manner.
“I think it’s always important to give back to the community,” Ruth said. “But it really needs to be for a purpose and this is exactly what this event serves to do."
Cassidy Shumaker, a fourth-year global supply chain and operations management student and Pi Beta Phi member said her sorority collected between 2,700 and 2,900 canned food items. They built a small version of the Horseshoe and focused on recognizable landmarks including the president's house, the USC smokestack, the McKissick Museum and the Maxcy Monument in the middle of the Horseshoe.
“Knowing that it’s going right into our backyard and right into the bellies of fellow students who are in need, I think that’s really special for us," Shumaker said.
Kara Witherel, a third-year psychology student, didn't participate in the building of her sorority's creation, but she said she was impressed by the total amount of cans that students had donated to the Gamecock Pantry.
“I just think it’s so great that all the students at USC come together to donate so many cans,” Witherel said. “And I think that’s amazing."
Hannah Martinson, a second-year criminology student and Alpha Xi Delta member, said they raised $850 worth of cans to use in their creation. They created a structure that included a peace sign up, love sign and the "spurs up" hand sign. Martinson said that homecoming has brought her closer to fraternity brothers who are working with her sorority and her sisters.
“Homecoming as a whole brings people together and I think this is such a good cause,” Martinson said. “Why would you not want to go all out for it?"