Briana Roden
Briana Roden, a junior studying Supply Chain Management and the Food Drives Coordinator for the Jane B. Gearhart Full Circle Food Drive pantry, was looking through an old pantry timeline in December when she noticed a food drive focused on a basketball game against Mizzou. Each spring, the pantry hosts a big food drive, but Briana wanted to switch it up this year due to the impact of COVID-19.
“I thought ‘well, what if we competed with everyone in the SEC, not just one school?’’ Briana said. The same December night, she researched and found 13 universities in the Southeastern Conference. Before classes even started in January, she was reaching out to other schools to network and gauge interest in participating in a SEC-wide food drive.
Sage McCoy, the Food Programs Coordinator at the Center for Community Engagement on campus, was excited when Briana came to one of their bi-weekly one on ones with this idea.
“I said ‘If you have the time and energy, send out those emails and let’s see what happens!’ It is always both nerve-wracking and exciting when students come with big ideas and plans to make them happen,” Sage said.
The Full Circle Food Pantry is entirely student ran. When one member has a big idea, the rest of the team is eager to help. Sage did what she could as staff to ensure they were good to promote the event, helped reach out to partners, and answered any questions Briana had.
Since the food drive was the first of its kind, it took a lot of work to get going.
“We all know how difficult it can be to coordinate events within our own institute,” Briana said. “Now multiply that by 9 because we’re working with 8 other schools.”
She began by sending an email out in January, which she received four responses. Two schools were ready to do it and two were not interested. Briana met with the Directors of Ole Miss’s food pantry, Grove Grocery, and the Mizzou food pantry, Tiger Pantry. Together they planned the details of the drive.
Briana reached out again to the rest of the SEC schools in February. This time, four more schools wanted to join, and she even convinced the two uninterested schools to join. Luckily, most of the schools understood her vision of stocking each of the pantries, and some of the schools were very proactive and even helped with graphics and ensuring the flow of information.
The Volunteer Action Center has also been extremely supportive of the food drives Briana has coordinated but were very excited for the “Schools of the SEC Food Fight.”
“A lot of current VAC board members shared our graphic with their social media followers and other channels, but the Center for Community Engagement staff was a huge help by reaching out to their contacts in other departments and officers asking them to share about the food drive with their students,” Briana said. “The biggest thing about this food drive was spreading the word because we want to make this a tradition.”
Groups on campus such as the Union, The Higher Education Organization, University Housing, the Honors College, and Athletics helped get the word out about the food drive and helped collect donations for the cause. The pantry also accepted financial donations through the University’s giving website.
Each school who participated had a point system that played to their specific needs. Auburn only accepted financial donations due to COVID-19 restrictions while Full Circle really needed hygiene items, and Ole Miss needed bulk cooking foods. Each school made a point system that catered to their specific needs.
While Briana is still waiting to hear back from each school, so far, the most likely winner is Auburn with 133,867 points. Arkansas ended up with 29,992 points.
“Obviously, I would have loved a Hog win, but I’m just really happy that each school was able to bring in donations that they wouldn’t have otherwise,” Briana said. “Maybe this loss will motivate everyone to donate next year and win!”
Sage and Briana are both hopeful that the tradition will continue and that more schools will participate in the future.
“Bri is currently in the process of teaching her successor all the things she’s learned, and I believe we are hoping to continue a spring food drive like this in the future!” Sage said.