With leaves falling off the trees and the weather becoming colder, people are getting excited for Halloween, but this year’s holiday won’t just be ghouls, goblins and kids ready to knock on doors.
“This year, consider a different type of trick or treating,” said Stanley Lloyd, director of the Community Service Board of the Associated Students of the University of Utah. “The treat is not a hard piece of taffy, but a square meal for a Utah family.”
The Bennion Community Service Center is conducting its annual Trick-or-Can fundraising program this week to collect food for the Utah Food Bank, which also counts for the November Rivalry Week food drive against Brigham Young University.
“We want to make every effort to get the food bank back on (its) feet in these bad times,” Lloyd said.
Members of the Bennion Center will pass out fliers this week to neighborhoods around the Salt Lake Valley and on campus asking for food donations. Volunteers will return to the houses five days later to pick up the food. Unlike past years, when the center only involved the city in donations, organizers decided to place collection bins shaped like jack-o’-lanterns across campus.
The Bennion Center teamed up with LEAP and various other groups, including the ASUU, the Greek Council and the Latter-day Saint Student Association.
“We are really re-creating the event,” Lloyd said.
Volunteers will collect food Thursday and are encouraged to dress in costume. Anyone interested in volunteering can show up at 6:30 p.m. for hot chocolate and doughnuts on the west side of Rice-Eccles Stadium parking lot, Lloyd said.
Jen Buhler, a senior in elementary education, said that even if volunteers don’t collect a lot of food, the center is still giving back to the community and a little bit helps.
“There are a lot of drives during Christmas and Thanksgiving, but it is good to help when there isn’t more of a need,” Buhler said.