WEST LIBERTY, W.Va., February 15, 2024 — WLU’s Student Government Association raised 873 items for the WLU Food Pantry this last week with their first “SOUP-er Bowl” event. The competition started on February 2 and went on until February 12.
Five groups competed throughout the week to collect the most items in this year’s SGA SOUP-er Bowl: Alpha Xi Delta, Chi Beta Phi, the Physician Assistant Club, the Psychology Department and The Robinson Writing Center. Each item donated to the pantry represented one point.
The group who raised the most amount of items during the week would receive $150 from SGA to hold a party of their choice for their organization.
“As student body leaders, we see issues with food insecurity first-hand. No one on WLU’s campus should have to worry about their next meal,” said SGA President Jenna Maguire. “SGA wanted to tackle the problem in a fun way that would get campus organizations involved, and we could not be more pleased with the outcome of this event. We are thankful for the five organizations who participated in supporting the cause!”
After the final collections, there was a tie between the Psychology Department and the Robinson Writing Center. The two groups were allowed an extra eight hours to donate items to break the tie.
“After looking at the score on Thursday, I felt that we were too far behind to catch-up, but on Friday after seeing the flood of donations from students, English faculty, and others I hoped we could at least get 2nd place. Dr. Criniti’s email on Friday night saying we were tied came as a surprise!” said the Robinson Writing Center’s student receptionist Maddy VanMatre.
The Robinson Writing Center broke the tie and won SGA’s 2024 SOUP-er Bowl with 281 items donated. The Psychology Department ended with 241 items donated.
“The biggest winner here is the WLU Food Pantry, which is now restocked with over 800 items to help support members of the WLU community. I’m also thrilled to see the Robinson Writing Center name associated with positive community engagement like this. We’re always looking for ways to support the WLU community, so it was wonderful to be a part of this event,” said Dr. Steve Criniti, Professor of English and Interim Director of the Robinson Writing Center. “We truly couldn’t have done it without the amazing support we received from all of our friends and colleagues in the Department of English & Modern Languages. What a great community effort!”
For more information on WLU’s hunger resources and food pantry, please visit https://westliberty.edu/student-life/food-pantry/.