Satisfying a sweet tooth and donating to Food for Lane County go hand in hand for this year’s Governor’s State Employees Food Drive.
Along with the food drive that’s continuing through February, UO departments are hosting various fundraising events such as bake sales and online auctions. All the proceeds from the fundraisers will go to Food for Lane County.
For cash donations, each $1 will be considered the equivalent of four pounds of food for the final donation tally at the end of the month. But plenty of time remains to bring food donations to any of the coming events aimed at boosting the UO’s donation poundage.
During the UO Duck Store’s annual Proudly Oregon event, visitors who donate a can of food during the trade show will receive a free UO draw string bag. Proudly Oregon is a trade show the Duck Store hosts for Oregon companies such as Hydro Flask and Equator Coffee that gives visitors a chance to purchase or learn more information about local Oregon products.
The event will be Feb. 25 from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. throughout the Duck Store, and the donation bin for canned foods will be in the book department.
On Feb. 29, the Department of Biology will host a bake sale from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. in Room 77 Klamath Hall. Most UO departments will also be selling Euphoria chocolate hearts in the main offices of their department building.
“Selling the chocolates have been very popular in the past years we’ve done this, said Christi Mabinuori, a volunteer for the food drive and the assistant and customer service coordinator for the UO Department of Chemistry and Biochemistry. “We have the two flavors we usually sell, dark and milk chocolate, but we’re also offering peanut butter chocolate this year.”
The Euphoria chocolates come in small bags that contain 10-12 chocolate hearts according to Mabinuori, and they’ll be sold throughout February at $4 a bag.
The UO School of Journalism and Communication will be selling some sweets of their own as well as a few handcrafted items on their silent auction site, jBay.
“As the name implies, jBay works exactly like eBay,” said executive assistant to the journalism department dean and food drive volunteer Colleen McKillip.
Some of the items currently on jBay are two dozen homemade marshmallows, homemade soap and a quilted wall hanging.
“There will be more stuff added all the time throughout February,” McKillip said. “A lot of the items in the past have been craft things such as jewelry or a quilted wall hanging, and then other people have offered up a vacation home getaway or baked cookies or cakes of the bidder's choice.
The items on jBay come primarily from faculty and staff from the journalism department, but if others are interested in placing something on the site, they can contact McKillip for more information. The journalism department’s fundraising goal for everything on jBay is $500, and bids will be accepted until 4 p.m. Feb. 29.
The UO Department of English also is hosting an online auction that began Feb. 15 and ends at noon Feb. 26. Auction items include knitted cats and bunnies and apple butter.
For an opportunity to shop and eat some baked goods, the UO Office of the Registrar and Admissions will have a book and media sale from 11 a.m. to 1:30 p.m., Monday, Feb. 29, on the second floor of Oregon Hall. The media sale will offer books, DVDs, CDs, puzzles and games donated for the sale. The offices are still accepting media donations, which can be dropped off with UO admissions operations manager Susan Stumpf in Room 246 Oregon Hall.
University departments will host fundraising events throughout February, and the most updated information on when and where events will be happening is on the Governor’s State Employee Food Drive Facebook event page.
—By Craig Garcia, University Communications intern