Cans for the Community

Averi Haugesag

Document Type

News Article

Publication Date

12-27-2016

Campus Unit

College of Business & Public Administration

Abstract

UND Entrepreneurship class donates hundreds of items to a Grand Forks food pantry.

Although the “Season of Giving” has nearly come to a close, senior Industrial Technology major, Andrew Wangler says the gift a University of North Dakota entrepreneurship class gave to members of the Grand Forks community is one that will keep on giving, even after the holiday season.

Just days before Thanksgiving, the UND College of Business & Public Administration’s Entrepreneurship 410 class decided to host a two-day hockey watch night. Students, staff, faculty and the Grand Forks community were welcomed into the Center for Innovation’s Idea Lab to watch the game on a big screen.

While the event was free of charge, guests were encouraged to bring a canned food item for donation to the Red River Valley Community Action food pantry.

“It was an optional thing, but almost everyone who came brought something,” says senior Industrial Technology major, Tyler Larson. “We had a bunch of prizes that we raffled off too, so the more items you brought in, the more tickets you got,” he added.

With roughly 70 to 80 attendees between the two nights, Wangler says the entrepreneurship class collected more than expected.

“We ended up fundraising around 400 items for the food pantry,” says Wangler.

“And a frozen turkey,” Larson added.

While the event was a hit, Larson and Wangler say the best part of the process was delivering the items to Red River Valley Community Action.

“They didn’t know what to do with themselves,” says Larson.

“Yeah, they were pretty ecstatic,” Wangler added. “There were a lot of open shelves and we definitely filled them.”

A warm gesture aimed toward those who don’t always have the privilege of a warm meal.

“Donating everything gave me the warm fuzzies,” says Larson. “That about sums it up. I got the warm fuzzies at the end of the night.”

“It was a good feeling for sure. Not just emptying my pantry, but filling theirs,” says Wangler.

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