By Julia Vergara | Staff Writer
Baylor and the University of Texas’ Circle-K International (CKI) chapters are competing with each other in the “UT vs Baylor Food Fight” to fight hunger.
This week from Sunday, Oct. 22 to Sunday, Oct. 28, Baylor CKI will be collecting food cans in several locations on campus and in Waco in support of their partner Students Team Up to Fight Hunger (STUFH).
“We call it a ‘Food Fight’ because it’s meant to kind of center around the Baylor vs UT football game,” Baylor Circle-K President Hunter Dentino said. “So our sister club at UT is also hosting a food drive of their own and it’s kind of meant as a competition between the two.”
Texas Oklahoma CKI Hill Country Lt. Governor, representing UT, Hannah Varghese said that she wanted to help create a service project that would allow the two chapters to interact more while raising awareness of hunger in the local communities.
Dentino said that Baylor CKI is going to see how much they can raise up until the football game and then all proceeds will be donated to the Shepherd’s Heart Food Pantry in Waco.
The University of Texas CKI will be donating all of their proceeds to the Central Texas Food Bank, Varghese said.
The donation box locations on Baylor’s campus are Moody Library, the Bill Daniel Student Center, the Baylor Science Building, Waco Hall and the Sid Richardson Building. In Waco, the donation locations are Viteks Barbeque and The Mattress Center.
The suggested food items include peanut butter, canned vegetables, canned fruit and whole grain cereal. CKI will also be accepting monetary donations on the “UT vs Baylor Food Fight” GoFundMe page.
According to Dentino, this is the first year Baylor and UT are hosting this food drive, however, the hope is that the “UT vs Baylor Food Drive” will become an annual event.
“We’re going to try to keep doing this with UT since it’s going to be a football game we’re going to have every single year,” Dentino said.
The two CKI chapters are planning to host this food drive annually to try to collect as much food as possible leading up to the Baylor vs UT football game, Dentino said.
“Not only will this fuel up UT and Baylor’s friendly rivalry before the game for a great cause, but this project allows everyone in our respective areas to get involved and learn more about what CKI does to help the community,” Varghese said.
According to their website, CKI is the “world’s largest collegiate service organization.”
Dentino said that Baylor’s chapter conducts a lot of different service projects around the Baylor and Waco community.
In the past, members of Baylor CKI have volunteered at the March of Dimes event, Steppin’ Out and the Humane Society of Central Texas.
