More than 200 University of Illinois Springfield students helped to collect 18,095 pounds of food to help fight hunger in central Illinois on Halloween night. The majority of the food, 17,171 pounds, will be donated to the Central Illinois Foodbank, while 924 pounds will go to the on campus UIS Cares Food Pantry.

A total of 16 teams, consisting of 262 students, went door-to-door in several Springfield neighborhoods collecting canned goods and other non-perishable food items.

Last week, the teams canvassed the neighborhoods and distributed door hangers that explained the project. Collected items were returned and weighed on campus. Prizes were awarded to the teams that collected the most food.

Students in the Tri-Sigma Sorority collected 3,032 pounds of food in the Westwood Forum and Mill Creek subdivisions. Leadership for Life Program students collected 2,070 pounds of food in the Country Club Estates subdivision.

For a third year, the UIS Cox Children’s Center participated in the fun by having the children in costume Trick-or-Treat for Canned Goods at on campus departments. The children collected 924 pounds of food for the UIS Cares Food Pantry.

The Central Illinois Foodbank, established in 1982, distributes 9 million pounds of food annually to over 160 food pantries, soup kitchens, residential programs and after-school programs in a 21 county region.

The UIS Cares Food Pantry, located in the Student Affairs Building, was started in 2016 as a way to help students with food insecurity on campus.

For more information, or if you have food that was not collected, please contact the UIS Volunteer Center at 217/206-7716 or volunteer@uis.edu.