For the eighth year in a row, UVU has again partnered with Brigham Young University and the Community Action Services and Food Bank to collect food and hygiene products for neighbors that suffer from food insecurity.
It’s that time of year once again! Loyal Wolverines are lending a paw to Utah Valley’s hungry.
For the eighth year in a row, UVU has again partnered with Brigham Young University (BYU) and the Community Action Services and Food Bank to collect food and hygiene products for neighbors that suffer from food insecurity. Collection bins have been placed at select offices on our Orem Campus where students, faculty, and staff are encouraged to donate canned and other nonperishable food products as well as hygiene kits. You can find donation barrels using the map below.
Community Action Services and Food Bank Chief Operations Officer Tom Hogan said that service projects such as this help both the receivers as well as the givers.
“We build capacity as we come together and work for a common good,” Hogan said. “Not only are we going to feed Utah County’s hungry citizens, but we are going to help those who do the service. It expands our horizons on what poverty looks like and who needs help.”
“Sometimes we think about poverty from a perspective of the panhandlers on the corner — and that certainly is poverty — but sometimes it’s also the people who are tucked away in our neighborhoods or in our family groups who are just making the ends meet,” Hogan continued.
Hogan said he enjoys the enthusiasm that members of both schools bring to the Valley United Against Hunger Project, especially the healthy competition that has developed between the neighboring schools.
“I see effort in both schools, I love competition,” Hogan said. “I have the best job because not only do I get to watch Valley United, I get to watch the larger community step up and support the efforts in combatting hunger and poverty.”
According to the UVU Alumni Association website, the most needed items include:
You’ll find a list of stats pertaining to Utah’s hunger problem in the attached graphic.
Shaun Singh, assistant director of UVU Alumni Relations, said that this year’s food drive is unique in that it will also help provide for those at UVU who suffer from food insecurity.
“What’s unique with our partnership with [Community Action Services] is that it is the same food bank that supplies food to our own food pantry here at UVU,” Singh said. So, it becomes a more passionate effort for students, alumni, and, of course, our faculty to be involved. It’s not only supporting the food bank on a wide-scale basis, but it also has a keen focus here UVU campus as well. We have a lot of students that rely on that. They need it to get by while they’re still here in school.”
Help our community and our school today by donating nonperishable goods and hygiene products today at any one of the barrels on the Orem Campus.
