The MTSU Student Food Pantry’s holiday drive to restock the shelves will get a boost this year from a Conference USA competition and help from the community.

The Conference USA Food Drive Challenge will pit MTSU against the league’s other schools to collect the most food for the hungry from Friday, Nov. 8, to Sunday, Nov. 10.

Becca Seul, an MTSU academic adviser and one of the organizers of the MTSU Student Food Pantry, displays some of the food items needed to help rrestock shelves for hungry students. (MTSU photo by News and Media Relations)

MTSU’s Student-Athlete Advisory Committee will have tables set up at five athletic contests where donors may drop off their food items.

Donors may bring items to the following competitions:

• MTSU volleyball vs. Florida International at 5:30 p.m. Nov. 8 in Alumni Memorial Gym;
• MTSU women’s basketball vs. Tennessee at 7 p.m. Nov. 8 in Murphy Center;
• MTSU football vs. Florida International at 3 p.m. Nov. 9 in Floyd Stadium;
• MTSU volleyball vs. Florida Atlantic at noon Nov. 10 in Alumni Memorial Gym; and
• MTSU men’s basketball vs. Southern University at 4 p.m. Nov. 10 in Murphy Center.

“Proceeds from the entire series of events will be totaled as one collection for MTSU,” says Todd Wyant, director of the MTSU Student-Athlete Enhancement Center. “The food is then weighed, and the results will be shared with Conference USA.”

Wyant says representatives from the Student Athlete Advisory Committee also will accept monetary donations to help the food pantry purchase needed supplies.

Todd Wyant

Donors who can’t attend one of the athletic events can drop off their food items between 8 a.m. and 4:30 p.m. Nov. 8 at the Student-Athlete Enhancement Center. It’s located near the ticket office at the south end of Floyd Stadium on Faulkinberry Drive, just off Middle Tennessee Boulevard.

Contributions also are accepted weekdays at the MTSU Food Pantry in the McFarland Building from 8 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. (You can find a searchable campus map with parking notes at http://tinyurl.com/MTSUParkingMap13-14.)

“We’ve seen the impact the food pantry has made over the last year,” says Becca Seul, an MTSU academic adviser who oversees the service.

“We know the need is there. We know it works. We have a lot of students saying it’s the reason they can go to class.”

Seul, who documents homeless students and students from foster homes, says MTSU students have made 370 visits to the pantry since October 2012. At last count, only 3,300 pounds of food were on the shelves.

She says the pantry needs foods that don’t require a can opener or stove-top preparation, such as fruit cups, bottled and boxed juices, toaster pastries and microwaveable items with pop-top lids.

Food vouchers for the dining facility at McCallie Hall also are available through the food pantry for a limited time, Seul adds.

For more information, contact Seul at 615-494-8910 or becca.seul@mtsu.edu or Wyant at 615-898-5610 or todd.wyant@mtsu.edu. You also can visit the MTSU Student Food Pantry website at www.mtsu.edu/foodpantry.

— Gina K. Logue (gina.logue@mtsu.edu)

Click on the poster above for a printable version.