Can It! Garners Food, Funds for Food Bank of Central New York

Syracuse Orange fans donated 1,705 pounds of nonperishable food and $2,228.75 during the annual Can It! food drive to benefit the Food Bank of Central New York during the men’s basketball game vs. North Carolina State on Feb. 15 in the Carrier Dome.

Bridget Yule, SU’s director of student centers and programming services, and Lynn Hy, director of philanthropy at the Food Bank of Central New York, are pictured at the back court donation table during the Feb. 15 Can It! event.

Can It! is a University-wide interfaith initiative, and part of the Better Together: President’s Interfaith and Community Service Challenge in which SU is participating. The food items and money raised at the Dome, and food items in the Hildegarde and J. Myer Schine Student Center during the week leading up to the game, will help the food bank distribute enough nutritious food for 7,215 meals in local communities.

“The Food Bank of Central New York was thrilled to partner with the students and staff at Syracuse University for the third annual Can It! event,” says Lynn Hy, the food bank’s director of philanthropy. “The food and funds raised during the event will allow us to provide enough food for more than 7,200 nutritious meals in our service area of Central and Northern New York. Thank you to everyone at Syracuse University and the fans who donated at the game for their continued support of our hunger-relief mission.”

Over the past three years, the initiative has netted 4,301 pounds of food and $7,478.23 in monetary donations, providing 21,940 meals to hungry people in the local community. The food was distributed to 261 emergency food program partners—food pantries, soup kitchens and emergency shelters—in the food bank’s 11-county service area.

For more information on the Better Together initiatives on the SU campus, contact Hendricks Chapel at315- 443-2902 or chapel@syr.edu or visit the Better Together Syracuse Facebook page.