Sodexo works towards record

Sodexo Food Services at Buena Vista University (BVU) hosted a can food drive in the Dows Grand Ballroom on Wednesday. This drive was part of the 2008-2009 resident dining promotion series on a mission to set the Guinness World Record for the largest food drive by a non-charitable organization in a 24-hour period (multiple locations) in collaboration with the Cans Across America event.

The drive was for 12 hours, starting at 7 a.m. The BVU community was encouraged to bring a non-perishable food item to Dows Grand Ballroom during these hours, according to Jen Henrichs, Retail Operations Manager for Sodexo.

BVU will be credited with Guinness World Record assistance. Students, staff and faculty were invited to this event.

The goal was to reach at least 500 pounds of canned goods donated. Sodexo will have free pasta bar for all Faculty, staff and students on Dec. 10, to celebrate this community effort to a nationwide STOP Hunger initiative. Tickets will be given to staff who participated.

"Sodexo has collected 250 pounds so far. We have not reached our goal yet," Henrichs said. "The Guinness World Record is 396,832,070 pounds, and, last year, Sodexo collected a total of 175,139,000. Our goal for this year is 396,833,000 pounds nationwide."

Sodexo does a variety of promotional programs. Last year, they ran a program titled "Home for the Holiday," where students were asked to bring a recipe their family makes for them.

Participation on behalf of students has been an issue in these events.

"We don't get a lot of participation from students, so it is very hard for us to run these promos correctly," Henrichs said.

However, different campus departments collaborated with Sodexo to promote the event. Rahn Franklin, resident director of Pierce and White halls and Jeremy Ward, resident director of the suites, made the promotional poster for this event.

"It was great support from Student Services," Franklin said. "They are willing to fund pasta bar for the participating staff."