Halloween is the day for ghouls and goblins to go door-to-door for sweets, but Thursday, volunteers went in costume asking for nonperishable food items for the hungry instead.
About 100 volunteers from the Bennion Community Service Center, the LEAP program, the Latter-day Saint Student Association, the Associated Students of the University of Utah, the Alumni Association and other campus organizations came together to go door-to-door to local homes of those willing to give cans and other nonperishable food to the Utah Food Bank.
About 3,154 pounds of food was collected throughout the night, said Becca Van Maren, an organizer of the Trick-or-Canning event.
Stanley Lloyd, community service organizer for ASUU, said it is important to note the dramatic increase of both food collected and volunteers from last year, when 70 volunteers collected about 2,000 pounds of food.
Volunteers went to neighborhoods near campus from the Avenues to the Foothill Drive area.
The advance notice given by organizers was a key to this year’s success, said Linda Dunn, director of the Bennion Center. Out of the six years the event has been held, this year’s was the most successful, she said.
“It’s a fun, creative way to go out and collect,” Van Maren said.
The Union Programming Council also collected cans of food for the Utah Food Bank at its annual Black Pumpkin Affair8212;the Crimson Nights party held around Halloween. Each person who attended could give two cans of food for free entry, and at least two of the UPC bins were completely full by the end of the night.
The food collection drives are part of the annual competition between the U and BYU to see which school can collect the most food before the rivalry football game.