Nicholls can

It may be a cheesy name but there can be no doubt that the cause is good and the need great.

The “Nicholls Can” project is an idea for community service that involves the entire Nicholls Community, beginning with the students, but also including faculty, staff and administration. And anyone in the community who wants to help those of us who are less fortunate.

The brainchild of Dr. Jean Donegan, “Nicholls Can” is a food drive to help fill the food banks in the area. This project establishes a universitywide non-perishable food drive for the benefit of anyone in need. It is also an attempt to do something rarely done on any campus – to involve all areas of the campus – departments, athletics, student government, Greeks, faculty, staff and alumni – everybody. The goal is simple: to collect one can for each student, faculty member and staff member on this campus. That would mean more than 7,000 non-perishable food items.

The plan is to conduct the food drive twice a year, in the weeks before spring break (that’s right now) and the weeks before Thanksgiving. There are six food banks in the surrounding areas and each will benefit.

The need is real. Last year, 5.6 million households in the United States utilized emergency food from a food bank one or more times. In 2010, there were 2,221 individuals who accessed the services of the Thibodaux Food Bank. In 2011, that number rose to 3,467 or about a 30 percent increase in the number of people in need. Unlike many other types of financial institutions today, this is the kind of bank that most people wouldn’t mind bailing out.

Food banks provide service to people who chronically find themselves in need. This includes retired folk on fixed incomes, who, at the end of the month, have to choose between filling a prescription or buying groceries. I could give a more examples but let me just throw out a few facts you might find interesting. There are 15 federal nutrition programs on which the government spends about $54.5 billion or about two per cent of its budget.

Approximately 12.5 per cent or 37 million people in the United States live in poverty and many millions more could become poor in a few months time should they face a family breakdown such as divorce or lose their job or become ill/disabled. That means about one in three Americans is either in poverty, high risk of becoming poor quickly or at risk to become poor in a few months following one of the setbacks mentioned.

When most of us were in grade school, we couldn’t wait for weekends and holidays. For many young students today, the days before a weekend or holiday are filled with anxiety – because they know they may not get another decent meal until school is back in session. This is unacceptable in a land of plenty.

The success of this service project rests with rests with the Nicholls community, and offers another way for Nicholls to inspire and effect change in the lives of their students. They have done outstanding service learning initiatives, undergraduate research projects, and created exceptional learning experiences in and out of the classroom.

This project asks that every Nicholls student discover what it means to be a responsible community member who makes a difference to people in need. But it‘s not just about them. It’s about the entire Nicholls community—people like myself—who, in tough times, wants to step up to the plate and help those less fortunate.

Mike Davis, vice president for Nicholls facilities, has already found a place to store the non-perishables during the drive and will take care of transport to the food bank. So what next? Next Nicholls invites anyone interested to join us as we move forward to make this a reality. Anyone interested should call the Department of Art and ask for Dr. Donegan.

Concern for others and community service should be a part of the Nicholls culture, and I’m glad that one faculty member is creating a way to bring the entire campus together. Hopefully in the future, the “Nicholls Can” project becomes as familiar to our students as Crawfish Day or Family Day.

Nicholls has already begun contacting area alumni and businesses to participate in this worthy project. If you know of a business that may be interested or if you have your own business and would like to have a collection box and poster delivered, please contact Debbie Raziano in Alumni Affairs – (985) 448-4111, deborah.raziano@nicholls.edu – or Jean Donegan in the Department of Art – (985) 448-4597, jean.donegan@nicholls.edu.

As Dr. Donegan says, “Together we CAN make a difference.”

And, on a personal note to Dr. Donegan, it’s a great idea and I’m proud to be a part of the project, but I still think the title is cheesy.