MTSU’s upcoming 2016 homecoming can be an opportunity for the Student Food Pantry to reap a desperately needed fall harvest for hungry scholars and community neighbors.

Becca Seul, associate director of the MT One Stop and MTSU Student Food Pantry coordinator, stands among donations in the pantry’s facility on the second floor of the MT One Stop. MTSU is collecting food Oct. 14-20 for the campus community as part of the annual Conference USA Food Drive Challenge. (MTSU file photo by News and Media Relations)

The Conference USA Food Drive Challenge begins Friday, Oct. 14, and extends through Thursday, Oct. 20, in a battle to top the league’s 14 other member schools in gathering food for students who can’t afford the nourishment they need.

“We’ve raised over 10,000 pounds of food every year, but we are trying to … see if we can beat some of the bigger schools,” said Becca Seul, associate director of the MT One Stop and coordinator of the MTSU pantry.

Donors can drop off nonperishable food items at:

• MTSU’s volleyball game against the University of Texas at San Antonio, which begins at 7 p.m. Oct. 14 at Alumni Memorial Gym.
• the Blue Raiders’ football game against Western Kentucky University, which starts at 1:30 p.m. Saturday, Oct. 15, at Johnny “Red” Floyd Stadium.
• the Student-Athlete Enhancement Center, located next to the ticket office at the south end of Floyd Stadium.
• the Student Food Pantry, which is located in the MT One Stop inside the Student Services and Admissions Center, which is located at Blue Raider Drive and MTSU Boulevard.

All donations will be divided between the campus pantry and Greenhouse Ministries, which operates a local food bank.

A printable campus parking map is available at http://tinyurl.com/MTSUParkingMap.

Off-campus visitors dropping off items during business hours at the Student-Athlete Enhancement Center or the One Stop should obtain a special one-day permit from MTSU’s Office of Parking and Transportation at www.mtsu.edu/parking/visit.php.

Last year, the University of Texas at El Paso won the challenge by collecting 26,000 pounds of food. The University of North Texas was second with nearly 17,000 pounds, and MTSU placed third with almost 11,000 pounds.

Seul said hungry visitors have made about 2,300 trips to the pantry since it opened in 2012. MTSU’s need is ongoing, she added, and visits to the pantry accelerate before Thanksgiving and Christmas.

Click on the logo for more information or to make a financial donation to the MTSU Student Food Pantry.

“We were averaging right at 300 to 400 (visits) a semester, and I’d venture a guess that we’re at 100 already this semester,” said Seul.

The pantry also accepts monetary donations to be used to purchase food. Items purchased with financial contributions during the challenge will count toward MTSU’s total.

“We take any money that’s donated and go purchase what’s needed for the pantry and put that into the overall weight of the donations,” Seul said.

The most popular items at the pantry are convenience foods that require little or no preparation, including canned chili, tuna, ramen noodles, macaroni and cheese, and beverages.

For more information, contact Seul at 615-494-8910 or becca.seul@mtsu.edu or go to the pantry’s website at www.mtsu.edu/foodpantry.

— Gina K. Logue (gina.logue@mtsu.edu)