Just under 200 students collected canned goods from Springfield residents this Halloween, ultimately piling a total of 14,084 pounds of food into the Student Life Building Gymnasium to support the Central Illinois Food Bank.

Leadership for Life collected the largest amount of canned goods for a single group at 1,850 pounds.

The Trick or Treat for Canned Goods event, hosted by the UIS Volunteer and Civic Engagement Center, began on Oct. 24, with 19 teams canvassing for canned goods across various neighborhoods in Springfield.

Trick or Treat for Canned Goods is an annual canned goods drive held by UIS where teams of students participate and compete in collecting the most canned goods from Springfield residents.

The week preceding Halloween, students visit Springfield neighborhoods to inform residents of the cause and encourage their involvement in the pursuit to end hunger. On Halloween night, these same teams go to their assigned neighborhoods during regular Trick-or-Treat hours and ask residents for a donation of canned goods instead of candy.
Mark Dochterman, director of Volunteer and Civic Engagement for UIS, believes students will gain a lot by participating in this event.
“Hopefully students will go out and see the generosity of people in Springfield,” he said. “Although students may not be able to supply food or other resources, they can contribute their time and efforts which makes a big difference.”

According to a recent study done by the Central Illinois Food Bank, nearly one in four individuals within Central Illinois over the age of 18 are food insecure.
Food insecurity affects an entire household; this means that families are unable to obtain an adequate amount of food or are unsure of when or where their next meal will be due to lack of money or other resources at any given time during the week.

This year, UIS hoped to combat hunger through this canned food drive with a goal of raising 10,000 pounds of food.

This year’s collection of 14,084 pounds exceeded that goal and shattered the previous record of the largest amount of food collected by Trick or Treat for Canned Goods, which stood at 11,200 pounds of food.

Dochterman believes the great success of the event is credited to the amount of teams and individuals involved with the event, partnered with their hard work and great efforts.
“I’m always amazed by the willingness of students to go out and help the community and do all this hard work to make this a great success,” he said.

All of the goods collected will go to the Central Illinois Food Bank, the main distributor of food in Central Illinois, serving 21 counties, 150 agencies, and 9 million pounds of food each year.
With the efforts and hard work of the students involved, over 11,700 meals will be provided to individuals across Central Illinois just in time for the holiday season.