University of Findlay Celebrates 21st Annual Helping Hands Food Drive

The University of Findlay’s Helping Hands Food Drive continues its mission to combat food insecurity throughout Hancock County. Celebrating the campaign’s 21st year, campus and community members gathered Thursday, Nov. 5, for an awards ceremony recognizing this year’s achievements, announcing contest winners, and revealing the final food donation totals.

This year, Helping Hands collected 300, 299 pounds of food, with 281 volunteers contributing a combined 684 hours to the effort. David Harr, University of Findlay’s dining director, shared his appreciation for the combination of support from many organizations and individuals, both new and returning, that step up year after year.

“We’ve been doing this for 21 years and it’s amazing to see how the community comes together to help support people out,” said Harr. “It’s a community taking care of the community; they do an excellent job at that.”

Once again, campus and community groups, along with local schools, joined in the competition for awards and bragging rights.

Within Oiler Nation specifically, Student Affairs claimed the UF Campus Challenge with 435 pounds per person (23,073 pounds total). The College of Business and Humanities earned second place with 425 pounds per person, while ITS took third place with 163 pounds per person.

McComb Middle School won the Hancock County School Competition and Golden Can Award for the fifth consecutive year, bringing in 37,145 pounds of food (141.8 pounds per person). Arcadia earned the second-place silver cup with 4.2 pounds per person, followed by Cory Rawson in third place (bronze cup) with 0.7 pounds per person.

In the Can-struction contest held amongst UF student organizations, the Oiler Marching Band won the People’s Choice title with 440 votes, Alpha Psi Omega took the Most Creative award, and the ASL Club won the award for Most Poundage with their display weighing 2,311 pounds.

All 70 pallets of food were picked up by Garner Trucking Inc. and delivered to CHOPIN Hall to serve those in need. This year’s drive brought the University of Findlay’s total donations since 2006 to over 2.6 million pounds.

Miriam Salinas, director of CHOPIN Hall, expressed gratitude and noted that Helping Hands goes a long way in assisting our neighbors who are in need. “I am very impressed with everybody that joined in – I think it’s a huge event. Having worked in food security for over nine years, I think this event is wonderful for those less fortunate and dealing with food insecurity,” Salinas said. “On behalf of CHOPIN Hall, we are grateful for the impact this has on those that really need it. We get to see it daily when families come in to get a box of food. We’re thankful for that and everybody who contributed.”

To learn more about Helping Hands Food Drive, its related activities, and friendly competitions, please visit https://www.findlay.edu/offices/student-affairs/dining/helping-hands.