Annual Food Drive Adds Two More Basketball Rivals

Posted on Feb. 1, 2006

Feb. 1 marks the start of the annual “Beat Hunger, Beat Duke” competition, which raises money and collects cans of food to assist needy families in North Carolina.

At Carolina the competition is sponsored by the Campus Y and receives promotional support from the Carolina Athletic Association.

Organizers have expanded the pool of participating schools this year to include N.C. State University and Wake Forest University. The food-raising competition has been officially renamed the “Big Four ACC Canned Food Drive,” but organizers at UNC said they want to continue using the familiar “Beat Hunger, Beat Duke” – they believe emphasizing the rivalry between Duke and Carolina will compel more students to participate.

Students, faculty, and alumni can donate to the N.C. Food Bank online. Money also can be given by students using their PIDs to specify donations from their expense accounts.

Josh Criscoe, a freshman and member of the coordinating committee, said donations of money rather than canned goods is preferable to maximize the gift’s overall value. For every dollar donated, the food bank can purchase five pounds of food, the equivalent of 15 cans.

Organizers will make a big push for it in the Pit on Feb. 6 and 7, when the CAA hosts its Beat Dook Day, Criscoe said.

The group hopes to give out three basketballs signed by Coach Roy Williams ’72 and his team as prizes to some of the donors.

The competition among the four schools will end March 1, leading up to the final men’s basketball games of the regular season. Carolina will play at Duke and N.C. State will play at Wake Forest on March 4. Campus Y organizers said they hope all the schools will surpass last year’s totals of 62,000 cans for UNC and 8,000 cans for Duke.

Donations can be made by credit card through a link on the group’s Web site.

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