Goshen College students compete to raise funds for area food pantries

GOSHEN, Ind. – For Goshen College students, this Christmas was all about giving, and a little friendly competition. Just days before leaving campus to spend the holidays with their families, students raised more than $1,100 for the Elkhart County Food Network.

Each year before the end of the fall semester, Susie Lambright, resident director of the Kratz and Miller halls – where most residents are first-years and sophomores – hosts "12 Days of Christmas Movies," a time when students are invited to her apartment to take a break from studies to watch classic Christmas movies and eat snacks.

But during Christmas 2008, Lambright wanted to do something different. She decided to host "12 Days of Christmas Activities," where students were invited to stop by her apartment and make cards, decorate a tree, sing Christmas carols and do other holiday activities.

"One evening we bought gifts for local children that were donated to the Salvation Army to be distributed to children in need," Lambright said. "My original plan was to take contributions of cash to go to the Salvation Army for gifts also, but over the Thanksgiving holiday I was reading in the Goshen News about how our local food pantries are running quite low and several local nonprofits had joined together to form the Elkhart County Food Network."

Lambright met with her student resident assistants about how they could raise funds, and one of them came up with the idea to have a competition to see which residence hall floor could raise the most funds for the Elkhart County Food Network, with the winning floor receiving a movie and snack night in Lambright's apartment.

In total, the two residence halls raised $1,106.89, with the winning floor collecting $382.55.

"I felt that it was such an easy way to help out our local community," said Julie Weirich a sophomore resident assistant from Goshen.

During each of the "12 Days of Christmas Activities," every residence hall floor had a jar to collect funds. At first the money came in slowly, but soon the intensity of the competition picked up and students started getting creative with the fundraising.

"Resident assistants made challenges to their floor like, 'If you gather $50, I'll put in $25,'" Lambright said. "One group of young men took their guitars over to the [dining hall] over lunch and played music with their guitar case open in front of them accepting donations."

Not only were the students into the competition, but they also saw a need to give back to the community. "I wanted [my floor] to realize how lucky we are during this time," said Weirich. "We are college students comfortably sitting around studying, having fun and every once in awhile we complain about the bad economy. But what are we doing to help others? This was an opportunity to come together as a floor and make a positive impact on the lives of those who are struggling."

– By Tyler Falk '09

Editors: For more information about this release, to arrange an interview or request a photo, contact Goshen College News Bureau Director Jodi H. Beyeler at (574) 535-7572 or jodihb@goshen.edu.

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Goshen College, established in 1894, is a residential Christian liberal arts college rooted in the Anabaptist-Mennonite tradition. The college's Christ-centered core values – passionate learning, global citizenship, compassionate peacemaking and servant-leadership – prepare students as leaders for the church and world. Recognized for its unique Study-Service Term program, Goshen has earned citations of excellence in Barron's Best Buys in Education, "Colleges of Distinction," "Making a Difference College Guide" and U.S. News & World Report's "America's Best Colleges" edition, which named Goshen a "least debt college." Visit www.goshen.edu.

 

PHOTO CAPTION

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Goshen College students, (left to right) Ryan Moyer, Ben Toews, David Zwier, Jacob Schlabach and Josh Hertzler help raise more than $1,100 for the Elkhart County Food Network as part of a residence hall competition.

(Photo provided by Susie Lambright)