Homecoming kicks-off for a good cause

By Sebastian Fryer
Western Herald

“Fight on fight on for Western!” cheered a herd of Broncos at the Homecoming 2009 Qdoba Mexican Grill Kick-off.

The kick-off, held at the Goldsworth Valley Pond, invited Western Michigan University students to welcome in this year’s homecoming festivities.

The kick-off featured free food courtesy of Qdoba Mexican Grill, the Bronco Marching Band, and a canned food sculpture contest as a part of the 2009 RSO Spirit Cup. A live band, Living the Dream, also performed.

The canned food sculpture involved participating RSOs and teams of students collecting non-perishable food items and building them into sculptures.

All the food was then donated to Kalamazoo Loaves & Fishes.
Operating for over 27 years, KLF is an organization that provides food to hungry families and individuals throughout Kalamazoo.

Jennifer Johnson, public relations for KLF and a judge for the sculpture contest, described the kick-off as having a really good turnout that exceeded expectations.

Among the RSOs that participated in the sculpture contest/food drive were the Organization of Students with Disabilities and the Campus Activities Board.

“I think [the Kick-off] is awesome,” said Katie Shelley, a junior majoring in English and member of Organization of Students with Disabilities.
“With the amount of food we got, it’s awesome.”

Leah Goodman, a junior majoring in Urban and Regional Planning, represented the Campus Activities Board for the sculpture competition.
According to Goodman, CAB raised awareness of the food drive by sending out e-mails and utilizing a Facebook page.

“[The food drive] is a really good idea,” Goodman said. “[It’s] the best of both worlds: work and charity.”

Members of the Homecoming Court were also in attendance at the event.

“I think it’s cool that [the Homecoming planning committee] combined [the kick-off] with charity,” Amanda Jandahl, nominee for Homecoming Queen, said of the sculpture competition.

WMU President John Dunn was also in attendance for the kick-off.

“The venue’s great,” Dunn said. “It’s nice to see kids [coming] together and having fun.”

He too, was supportive of the food drive.

“A lot of students understand that it’s good to give rather than receive,” Dunn said.

Jackie Luedtke and Kris Banks, student co-coordinators of Homecoming 2009, oversaw the event.

“We thought the turnout was fantastic,” Luedtke said.

As co-coordinators of Homecoming, Luedtke and Banks planned out all the week’s events. Kick-off was the first time they were able to see their plans come to fruition.

“It’s great to see everything come together,” Banks said.

Luedtke said she was thrilled with the number of food items that were donated and the teams that participated.
Luedtke and Banks noted that the number of donations went above and beyond their expectations.
All in all, 1803 pounds of food were donated to Kalamazoo Loaves & Fishes.

The sculpture contest was judged on how much food each RSO acquired, the health quality of the food, and creativity.

The Organization of Students with Disabilities placed first in the contest, with Valley II coming in second, and the Student Alumni Association and Theta Tau tying for third place.

For more information on Homecoming 2009, visit www.wmich.edu/homecoming. Keep reading the Western Herald for Homecoming updates.

Short URL: http://www.westernherald.com/?p=10537

Posted by heraldstaff on Oct 22 2009. Filed under A & E. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0. You can leave a response or trackback to this entry

http://HeraldStaff