On a night when ghosts and goblins were out collecting candy, a group of UNBC students and volunteers went on a food drive that proved equally sweet.
UNBC's Halloween night Trick or Eat project was a weighty success, stuffing the shelves of the Salvation Army food bank with 3,200 pounds of food.
"I wasn't sure how it would be received at UNBC since it was our first year but we tripled our goal," said UNBC student life co-ordinator Jennifer Nguyen. "I hope this can become a tradition for UNBC."
Students collected 3,119.6 pounds, while UNBC faculty and staff brought in 19.6 pounds of food. By comparison, UBC rounded up 250 volunteers, who collected $4,800 worth of food.
"We beat UBC and I like to tell everyone that," said Nguyen. "This money will go to the Salvation Army to buy the kind of food they don't get enough of [through more conventional donations] for people with allergies or if they need gluten-free food."
The national organization Meal Exchange pegs the money value of all that food at $6,239.20. The UNBC food drive also resulted in $1,100 in online donations.
Across Canada, Trick or Eat projects resulted in more than $500,000 in food products collected.
Nguyen said the 51 UNBC students and 30 volunteers had planned to get to more neighbourhoods in the College Heights and Westwood districts but ran out of time, realizing most Halloween door-to-door activity shuts down after 9 p.m. If those people still want to donate to the cause, Nguyen said they can still drop off food at the Salvation Army in UNBC's name.
