Dec. 4, 2008

MEMPHIS, Tenn. - The University of Memphis Student-Athlete Advisory Committee (SAAC) and the CHAMPS/Life Skills Program recently participated in a conference-wide food drive competition between all Conference USA institutions. The food drive was held from Nov. 16- 22.

Along with various campus organizations such as the Student Activities Council, Students Advocating Service and Greek Life, Memphis athletes collected food donations at volleyball, men's basketball, women's basketball, and football games throughout that week.

The majority of the donations were collected from the University of Memphis student-athletes whose teams competed against each other to see who could collect the most food. The winners of the campus competition were the Track and Field and Volleyball teams. Track and Field collected nearly 1,900 canned goods, while the 14-member volleyball squad collected almost 600 cans.

In all, Tiger student-athletes collected a total of 5,539 pounds of non-perishable canned goods from the food drive. The total is equivalent to 4,431 meals and can feed 12 people every day for a year.

All donations were given to the Memphis Food Bank. The winner of the C-USA competition will be announced in January 2009.