Defiance College CAN help with area hunger

February 4, 2016

DEFIANCE, Ohio – Students, faculty, and staff recently teamed up during a hunger-awareness event on the Defiance College campus. The event, entitled “CAN You Build It?”, collected 1,823 cans of food which were donated to the PATH Center.

Music, refreshments, and prizes were part of the occasion. PATH Center Program Manager Matt Rau, along with other PATH Center employees, spoke on the statistics of hunger and homelessness issues within Defiance County. They also served as judges for the event. Two Defiance College students, Ashley Tompkins, West Unity, Ohio, and Taylor Haydinger, Wilmington, Del., gave a presentation on hunger and homelessness in the US and ways to help those in need.

The event was sponsored by the Defiance College Service Leadership Program, the Defiance College Office of Intercultural Relations, and Sodexo Dining Services. A mini-grant of $1000 for the Martin Luther King Jr. Day of Service was contributed to the event from Campus Compact.

Along with fundraising of canned food items, the event centralized around a challenge to build a free-standing structure with the cans. Groups of participants had a week to form into teams and collect cans for their design. All structures were created the day of the event between the hours of 8 a.m. and 5 p.m.

The design containing the most cans (442) was by Creating Defiance, composed of Michelle Puehler, Defiance, Ohio; Lornette Lynch, St. Mary, Jamaica; Nicole Walls, Carleton, Mich.; Zoe Smith, Defiance, Ohio; and Tim Coons, Sadieville, Ky.

First place was awarded to the Design Department. Participants were Kandee Manson, Paulding, Ohio; Nathon Principe, Fort Wayne, Ind.; Javon Hilliard, Noblesville, Ind.; and Professor Amy Drees.

Second place and the People’s Choice was awarded to the Defiance College softball team. Third place was awarded to the Defiance College Admissions Office. Fourth place was awarded to the Project 701 staff. Fifth place was awarded to Creating Defiance. Sixth place was awarded to the Project 701 Board.

A team participated from Sodexo but chose not to be included in voting due to their sponsorship of the event.

Defiance College, chartered in 1850, is an independent, liberal arts institution in Northwest Ohio offering more than 40 undergraduate programs of study as well as graduate programs in education and business. Defiance College has received national recognition for its educational experience of service and engagement. The college website is www.defiance.edu.