Students at Purdue's College of Technology at Lafayette delivered 3,820 pounds of food to the local Food Finders organization Monday afternoon. They made the delivery before Thanksgiving because Food Finders was in need of additional food before the holiday. The students will be collecting food for another two weeks. The College of Technology at Lafayette location, headquartered at the Subaru of Indiana Automotive Training Center, has an enrollment of 181 students this fall. The food donation equates to more than 21 pounds of food donated for each student. How do they collect so much? Competition.
The coordinators have set up a friendly competition between the Student Ambassadors and the Study Abroad students. In addition, students in each class measure their progress against each other. While there are prizes of T-shirts and food, organizers say that is not the most important thing. "It's been really fun, but we haven't lost sight of what it's really about," said Sindie Hornbeck, a student in the organizational leadership and supervision program. "The winning team is Food Finders." (Photos: Above: Student Ambassador President Laurie Nash helps unload one of two pickup trucks full of Food Finder donations. Right: Raven Smathers stacks water bottles as Nash brings more items to be unloaded.)