On October 18, Sodexho held a food drive called “Cans Across America.” They tried to break the Guinness World Record for the most food collected in by a non-charitable organization in a single day. The food is still being counted but so far Sodexho collected 102,000.90 pounds of food. The current world record is 156,889.34 pounds, but food from around the country is still waiting to be counted, so there is still a chance for victory.
The inspiration for this food drive stemmed from making the collection of cans more goal-oriented. Each year, Sodexho does a canned food drive that lasts a week called “Caring Cans” but this drive usually has no ultimate goal. This year, Sodexho set a goal of breaking the world record. “I feel having a set goal made the collection more fun and competitive,” said Arianne Szymas, Plymouth State’s nutrition manager and organizer of the food drive project at the University.
Plymouth collected 605 pounds of food from Prospect Dining Hall, The Snack Bar and The Commons. They broke PSU’s goal of 500 pounds. Sodexho gave discounts and incentives for donating food at these locations. At Prospect, Sodexho gave $3 off lunch. At the Mountain View Snack Bar they offered free soft serve ice cream cones and at The Commons they offered those that donated a coffee for $0.50. They also collected food at the residence halls and student apartments.
“I do feel these incentives helped students donate, although the residence halls collected large amounts of food without any incentive,” said Szymas. “I feel that regardless of having an incentive available, members of PSU are willing to donate to help those less fortunate.” Members of the PSU baseball team helped transport the can goods to The Community Closet, a local organization that provides for those in need in the Plymouth area.
The only complaint about the drive was that it could have lasted longer. Some students were frustrated because they learned of the food drive too late. “It’s a great idea to try to break the world record, but if the drive had lasted longer they would have collected more food, which is the real purpose of a food drive,” said Diane Saunders, a senior social science major. She later added that she went back the next day with canned goods and was disappointed to discover that the food drive was over.
When asked the ways this food drive could have been improved, Szymas said they should have started advertising for it sooner, which could have eliminated some of the student’s frustration. She says Sodexho will definitely do another food drive in the future but probably will not attempt to break the world record. Sodexho is always working on creating new promotions, so next year will be different, but hopefully, just as successful.