Community support makes food drive a success

CHENEY – Members of the Eastern Washington University football team helped unload about 15,985 food items to benefit the Cheney Food Bank last week.

The food drive was organized by Nadine Arevalo, the wife of EWU President Rodolfo Arevalo, and co-chairwoman Kathleen Warren, office manager of the American Indian studies program.

The two arranged 20 teams of 15 to 32 staff and EWU employees to gather food for both the Cheney Food Bank and Second Harvest in Spokane. The drive kicked off Aug. 4.

The Riverpoint campus in Spokane gathered 6,163 food items for a total of 22,148 items. Volunteers also collected $3,239 for the two food banks.

Each food item was assigned a point value and the teams competed for prizes. First prize will be a barbecue at University House with Arevalo and his wife and a discount card good for a year for 25 percent off EWU logo items at the school bookstore.

Second-place winners will receive a pass to the Northwest Museum of Arts and Culture and a choice of either a stadium blanket or stadium seat.

Third-prize winners will receive an EWU calculator and pen and pencil set.

“We had such a team effort,” Nadine Arevalo said. “To me, Eastern is phenomenal.”

She said community members at grocery stores would bring out more food to the volunteers than they took home for themselves. One man had just gone into the store for a cup of coffee and still brought out a bag of food for the drive.

“The community just really pitched in,” she said.

This was the first year of the food drive, and Warren said that it was such a success there are plans to do another one next year.

“The overwhelming response was just incredible,” Warren said.