From November 1 to November 12, Carnegie Mellon's Staff Council is sponsoring its 11th annual food drive. The Staff Council wants much more than food; they're also asking for cleaning supplies, toiletries, paper goods, gift certificates, and baby care items. All items collected will be given to the Greater Pittsburgh Community Food Bank.

Staff Council has placed collection canisters in academic buildings, the University Center, Mellon Institute, and the Software Engineering Institute for convenient drop-off. On November 3, they sponsored a "One Day, One Can" challenge, which encouraged students and staff to donate items by entering them into a raffle for prizes such as Starbucks coffee or a Blockbuster gift card.

Tara Klim, Co-Chair of the Staff Council Food Drive Committee, had this to say about the challenge: "[The event] was very successful. We accumulated several boxes worth of nonperishable items." 

"Although people were only required to donate one item in order to participate in the raffle, several donated much more. Some had a couple bags worth of stuff to donate."

Every year, the Food Drive aims to surpass the previous year's totals, something they've been able to in each of their ten years. Last year's food drive received over 5,500 pounds of non-perishable items, over $140 dollars in cash and checks and Giant Eagle gift certificates.

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