FOREST, Va. --- ODAC schools and student-athletes continued their strong history of giving back as league members united to help local charities and organizations by conducting a conference-wide food drive. The initiative was sponsored by the ODAC's Student-Athlete Advisory Committee (SAAC) and carried out by each institution's SAAC.
The SAAC food drive, which concluded on November 16th, continues to draw heavy participation throughout the conference. Combined, ODAC members collected more than 28,000 non-perishable food items with an additional $262 in monetary donations to support local charities and aid organizations. For the fall semester, Randolph-Macon College topped the charts by collecting more than 5,100 items.
“Ashland is the Randolph-Macon community,” stated Lindsey Burke, R-MC women’s basketball head coach and SAAC advisor. “The support R-MC receives from the surrounding community at all of our events and games is outstanding. The very least we can do is to give back and support local missions like the Hanover Safe Place. Especially nearing the holidays, it gives our entire athletic community joy to help out those in need.”
Outside of the official food drive window, Guilford College contributed to local humanitarian efforts through its annual Gate City Soup Bowl football game against cross-town rival Greensboro College. A total of 7,156 items were collected from that contest alone.
“The generosity and commitment of our member campuses to their communities is amazing,” noted ODAC Commissioner Brad Bankston. “My thanks goes out to all the ODAC student-athletes for their efforts. These food donations come at a busy time of the year for many food banks across the country and I'm so proud of the difference our conference SAAC has made through this league-wide project!”
SAAC will continue its efforts into the new semester following the turn of the calendar. More information will be announced as it becomes available.
The local organizations where the ODAC institutions donated their collections are listed below:
- God’s Storehouse (Averett)
- Blue Ridge Area Food Bank (Bridgewater & Eastern Mennonite)
- St. James Community Bank (Ferrum)
- Second Harvest Food Bank (Guilford)
- FACES (Hampden-Sydney)
- Feeding Southwest Virginia (Hollins & Roanoke)
- Daily Bread of Lynchburg (Lynchburg & Randolph)
- University of Lynchburg Spiritual Life Food Bank
- Hanover Safe Place (Randolph-Macon)
- Bright Futures (Shenandoah)
- Lynchburg Food Bank (Sweet Briar)
- Food Bank of Southeastern Virginia (Virginia Wesleyan)
- Rockbridge Area Relief Association (Washington and Lee)