Big South Conference SAAC Food Drive Reaches 15 Tons
CHARLOTTE, N.C. (BigSouthSports.com) – Student-athletes from across the Big South Conference have collectively donated 30,435.20 pounds of food since October to local food banks as part of the Conference’s Student-Athlete Advisory Committee’s (SAAC) annual Community Service Initiative. Radford University’s 300 student-athletes have collected the most at this point with 9,095 pounds -- nearly 30 percent of the entire total and more than 1,800 pounds from its closest competitor.
Radford collected 4,095 pounds since December after amassing 5,000 pounds during the first two months of the food drive. Coastal Carolina totaled 2,895 pounds since December, while Winthrop was at 1,562.40 during the latest round of donations.
The Big South SAAC decided on the food drive for the 2012-13 academic year. The initiative includes each campus SAAC working with a local food bank to determine what item is needed most, in addition to collecting other essential items for the benefit of the food shelters and those in need. Each school’s SAAC weighs the collected food and reports its total to the Conference office on a monthly basis, with the League providing an institutional ranking at the end of the Fall term, in March and lastly in July at the Big South’s annual Leadership Conference when the winner of the Kallander Cup will be declared.
The total weight of the food items collected by each institution is divided by the total number of student-athletes to determine the per pound student-athlete average. The school with this highest average will be declared the winner of the 2012-13 Kallander Cup. Below are the rankings through March:
| Rank |
School |
Pounds Collected |
Student-Athletes |
Per Pound S-A Average |
| 1. |
Radford |
9,095 |
300 |
30.32 |
| 2. |
Coastal Carolina |
7,246 |
433 |
16.73 |
| 3. |
High Point |
3,134 |
291 |
10.77 |
| 4. |
Winthrop |
2,210.60 |
278 |
7.95 |
| 5. |
Liberty |
3,407 |
550 |
6.19 |
| 6. |
Longwood |
1,150 |
216 |
5.32 |
| 7. |
Campbell |
2,096 |
435 |
4.82 |
| 8. |
UNC Asheville |
655 |
190 |
3.45 |
| 9. |
Gardner-Webb |
1,045.60 |
462 |
2.26 |
| 10. |
Charleston Southern |
300 |
300 |
1.00 |
| 11. |
Presbyterian College |
195 |
328 |
0.59 |
| |
Totals |
30,435.20 |
3,783 |
8.05 |
The Big South SAAC Community Service Initiative was developed in 2006-07 to engage student-athletes from all Big South member institutions in a year-long fundraising competition for the benefit of a selected charity, with the winner receiving the Kallander Cup. Past beneficiaries include the Make-A-Wish Foundation, Samaritan’s Feet, Soap for Souls and local school systems and youth community initiatives.