Contact: Heather Benning, Executive Director,  641-236-0360

GRINNELL, Iowa - Heather Benning, Midwest Conference (MWC) Executive Director, issued the 3rd Annual MWC Canned Food Challenge and received 100% commitment from the league’s ten Student Athlete Advisory Committees (SAACs).
 
In its inaugural year, the Challenge amassed over 6,500 non-perishable food items. In 2015, the Challenge proved to be “bigger and better” with member institution SAACs collecting more than 1.5 times the non-perishable items as in year one (10,993) and, with the addition of a new element to the Challenge, a total of $4,583 was donated to local food pantries.
 
“Set to kickoff our third year, I am confident that our campus SAACs are ready to match last year’s donations and then some,” says Benning. “Our students are passionate about engaging in a league-wide initiative that addresses a social justice issue in each of our communities - hunger.”
During the Challenge, each institutional SAAC has four weeks to collect as many non-perishables as possible and donate them to a local food bank, shelter or pre-determined agency of need. MWC SAAC Canned Food representatives are responsible for reporting a weekly and cumulative count to the Conference Office each Wednesday. Weekly updates and final results are posted on the league website each Thursday.
 
To accommodate for the varying academic schedules of the participating institutions, each SAAC is able to identify its start date within a larger window spanning from mid-October to early December. Once an institution activates its campaign, the Student Athlete Advisory Committee has four weeks to collect as many non-perishable food products and/or monetary donations as possible. The Midwest Conference will post tabulated results on its website on the following dates:
 
Thursday, November 17
Thursday, November 24
Thursday, December 1
Thursday, December 8
 
The 2016 Canned Food Challenge winner will be announced in conjunction with the final results on Thursday, December 8. The SAAC representatives from the winning institution receive a banner to display in their athletic facility.
 
2015 Canned Food Challenge Results
10,593    Knox College SAAC (4,037 non-perishables, $3,278)
2,630     Ripon College SAAC (1,706 non-perishables, $462)
2,465     Grinnell College SAAC (1,522 non-perishables, $472)
2,011     Illinois College SAAC (1,771 non-perishables, $120)
1,091     Monmouth College SAAC (901 non-perishables, $95)
778       Lake Forest College SAAC
388       Lawrence University SAAC
143       St. Norbert College SAAC
60         Beloit College SAAC