On Sept. 8, Washburn Student Government Association (WSGA) started the annual food drive, Can Emporia. The friendly competition against Emporia State University will last until Nov. 3.

“We support Bods Feeding Bods and they [Emporia] support Corky’s Cupboard,” said Taylor Redington, campus and community affairs director of WSGA. “[We donate to] the 501 school district and Bods Feeding Bods.” 

Redington explains that there is a friendly competition between the two schools. The winning school gets to pie the losing school’s student government president and vice president in the face. The winner will be announced during the halftime of the football game on Nov. 8.

According to the Washburn University website, students, faculty and staff can donate online, in Kuehne Hall or in the WSGA office. 

There will also be a homecoming competition against organizations at Washburn. It will run from Sept. 26 to Oct. 21. The winning organization will be able to count this win towards its overall homecoming competition score. 

If individuals choose to do a monetary donation online, there is a point system that shows how much money is worth how many of an item. Then, each item is worth a certain amount of points.

“We made a contract over the summer with Emporia of how many points each item is worth,” Redington said. 

According to the Topeka Capital Journal, as of November last year, the food pantry on campus provided about 16,000 pounds of food to faculty, staff and students in need. 

Redington explains that this is a friendly and fun competition, but there is a greater purpose behind it. Bods Feeding Bods provides students, faculty and staff in need with food, school supplies and hygiene products. 

Edited by Stuti Khadka