There’s something fishy going on at the law school.
Construction is under way to create a “Tower of Tuna” in the Knight Law Center reception office on the first floor. Currently, almost 150 cans of tuna are forming the base of the tower, which so far is only about ten cans high. According to Norma Allensworth, the development officer of the law school and instigator of the tuna tower, more tuna is needed.
The reason for building this new structure is the campuswide food drive that started at the end of January and will continue until March 4.
“There are 650 people in the building, students and faculty combined, so our goal is for each person to bring in at least one can of tuna to add to the tower,” Allensworth said, “But, of course, everybody is welcome to bring in tuna for this great cause.”
Allensworth heard about the tower of tuna concept at the initial campus employee food drive meeting and thought it would be a good idea, especially as protein foods are in high demand this year, she said. The law school is working on a “Bastion of Beans” to accompany its tuna tower.
The University has been holding food drives in cooperation with Food for Lane County for more than 10 years. The adoption of this annual practice
coincides with the Governor’s Challenge program, which urges all state employees to take part in a statewide mission to raise food and money for people in need.
The challenge is “the governor’s way of saying hunger is an issue, and state employees are committed to doing something about it,” said Deb Buchanan, food solicitor for Food for Lane County.
The University is the largest organization of state employees in Lane County, and is a long-term supporter of Food for Lane County’s Food Rescue Program, Buchanan said. The national economy is struggling and Oregon has the highest unemployment rate in the country, and Buchanan said that makes the food drive especially important.
According to University Assistant Director for Community Outreach Kim Mangun, who is coordinating the food drive, University employees are working harder than ever to reach the 60,000-pound goal set for this year’s drive. Last year, the University collected the equivalent of 52,000 pounds of food.
“We wanted to really encourage the departments to be creative this year and find fun ways to get people to give,” Mangun said.
Some departments sold chocolate hearts for Valentine’s Day. All departments are giving out red, white and black collector’s edition buttons that read “I have a heart for the hungry” with every donation of $10 or more.
“Raising money is very important, as $1 donated is equal to six pounds of food and can buy a meal for a family of four,” Buchanan said.
In the University admissions office, everyone refers to Brian Stanley as the “Cookie Guy.” Stanley, residency officer, is getting involved by making and selling snickerdoodles. He buys all the ingredients and makes all the cookies himself, then sells them to co-workers to raise money for the food drive.
“I got the idea because I would bring the cookies in for holiday parties and folks commented on how much they liked them, so I thought it was a good way to contribute,” Stanley said.
Last year he made 58 dozen cookies, and he’s hoping to surpass that this year. The cookies are $5 per dozen.
Other departments participating in the drive include economics, psychology, music, history, journalism, athletics, the graduate school, the Knight Library and the bookstore.
There are 60 barrels scattered around campus for food donations, and facilities services volunteers deliver and pick up all the barrels.
After the food drive ends, there will be an event on March 11 with University President Dave Frohnmayer and the duck mascot in the Johnson Hall lobby. Mangun plans to give out prizes to the department with the best theme, the best team initiative and the most donations.
Buchanan, who works with the University throughout the year to acquire donated food, is thrilled with all the different ways the University is raising funds.
“It’s such a great drive. It’s a great way for employees to bond and do something as a collective organization,” Buchanan said. “It’s all about finding whatever sparks creativity for the group.”