McLean County Times

The Illinois State Student-Athlete Advisory Council (SAAC) has concluded its third annual SAAC Food Drive Competition. This event saw participation from Missouri Valley Conference schools, including Indiana State, Missouri State, and Southern Illinois. Each institution collected donations during one women's basketball and one men's basketball game on their respective campuses.

For the third consecutive year, Illinois State emerged as the winner by collecting 594 items, with Missouri State taking second place. The combined efforts of the four schools resulted in nearly 1,300 non-perishable items being collected.

"Across college campuses, food insecurity is a prominent issue," said ISU SAAC president Kaitlyn Donovan. "Not only are we grateful to compete with other schools in the Valley and come away with the win in our annual food drive, but we are so grateful for everyone who supported us by donating at the games. We are one step closer to helping college students in need, and this only helps us enhance the relationship between Illinois State Athletics and the rest of the student body."

The donations from Illinois State were sent to the School Street Food Pantry to assist students facing food insecurity in the Bloomington-Normal area. Members of Redbird SAAC look forward to next year's competition and aim to involve more schools.

"The School Street Food Pantry is incredibly thankful for the donation of food and personal supplies from the Illinois State Athletics Student-Athlete Advisory Council," stated Elaine Capek, manager of School Street Food Pantry. "We currently serve over 100 students each week and these donations personally help each and every one of them."

For further details on how to support or donate to School Street Food Pantry, visit schoolstreetfoodpantry.org.