Volunteer and Civic Engagement Center
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     You must be the change you want to see in the world.  – Gandhi

Holiday stars project

New Drive-up Donation Collection

November 17-19, 5:00 - 6:00 PM

The Holiday Stars Project is trying a new service this week in cooperation with the UIS Police Department. From November 17-19, UIS volunteers will be in three vehicle-accessible locations around campus. The locations are:

  • Parking Lot G
  • Teardrop Entrance of the PAC
  • Parking Lot E

Collections will be from 5:00 – 6:00 PM. In the event of heavy rain, collectors will be located inside University Hall, Brookens Library, and the Public Affairs Center. Look for volunteers with specially marked Holiday Star Project signs. Please ask us for assistance!

If you forget to bring food or don't have time to purchase any, we are also accepting cash donations.

Update for November 13th Collection

Holiday Stars Project logoThe HOLIDAY STARS collection for the week of November 13th totaled 469 lbs. We had 20 out of 27 stations reporting this week. The top three stations were:

  • Student Center - 155 lbs.
  • Chancellor’s Office – 70 lbs.
  • BSB 49 – 54 lbs.

There is a little less than three weeks left in the program. This week our goal is to total 1,000 pounds! Know that:

  • According to the USDA, 9.5% of Illinois households face food insecurity.
  • According to a report released by Feeding America, 497,991 children in Illinois (15.4% of children) are food insecure.

All donations from the project go to benefit people who don’t have enough to eat on a daily basis. Please thoughtfully consider how your donation might help a family in need. For more information on hunger in Illinois go to http://www.feedingillinois.org/.

Results from the 2009 "Trick or Eat" Competition:

What a night! The Holiday Stars Project got off on the right foot this year. On Halloween night, fourteen student groups from UIS collected 4450.1 pounds of food, smashing last year's total. The top three teams were:

  1. Alternative Spring Break - 610.1 pounds
  2. AmeriCorps M3C - 475.8 pounds
  3. International Student Association - 464.4 pounds

The Volunteer Center would like to thank all the groups for their time and effort. Well done! Many, many people will benefit from your generosity.

Trick or Eat Pie Graph

Remember, this is just the beginning of great things to come! Continue to check back during the month of November for further updates on this year's project.

 

Holiday Stars Project logoWhat is the Holiday Stars Project?

In 2008, a campus-wide committee met to create a tradition, one that would bring focus to what the University of Illinois Springfield could do to strengthen our community during the holiday season. The committee eventually developed the Holiday Stars Project, a month-long food drive for the Central Illinois Foodbank.

Look for Holiday Stars collection bins all around campus, every year during the month of November. You can download a Holiday Stars promotional flier here. See below for the list of preferred donations.

Preferred donations:

  • Cereal
  • Rice
  • Pasta and Canned Pasta Sauce
  • Soups, Stews, and Chili
  • Macaroni and Cheese
  • Canned Fruits and Vegetables
  • Diapers

Please do not donate:

  • Food in glass containers
  • Unlabeled products
  • Homemade items
  • Open or used items

Be sure to check back here throughout November to see updates on the collection!

You can read about the first Holiday Stars Project below.

Students load foodFirst ever UIS Holiday Stars Project:

Making a difference in people's lives

  • September: The new project was announced. We set an initial goal to collect 2008 pounds of food. The Central Illinois Foodbank was chosen to benefit from the project.
  • October: The Volunteer & Civic Engagement Center sponsored the first Trick-or-Treat for Canned Goods competition at UIS. On Halloween night, student-led teams canvassed the neighborhoods of Springfield to see who could trick-or-treat for the most canned goods. Door-hangers were distributed to residents before Halloween to inform them of the project.

The students raised a massive amount of food from this event, already exceeding our initial goal! The committee set a new goal of 4,016 pounds, double the original target.

See "Trick-or-Treat for Canned Goods" highlights

  • November: This month was the heart of our efforts, as the campus-wide campaign started to hit its stride. Students, faculty, and staff filled up the Students participate specially marked Holiday Stars Project bins with donated food items. The bins were located throughout many campus departments. Competition was sometimes fierce!

The Volunteer & Civic Engagement Center also conducted a "Hunger Study" in November in cooperation with the Central Illinois Foodbank. This study was part of a broader, national survey on food insecurity in the United States.

  • December: The final Holiday Stars Project event was held December 4 in the Public Affairs Center. The UIS community eventually donated over 4,500 pounds of canned and nonperishable fruits, vegetables, soups, dinners, pasta, peanut butter and other food items. All proceeds benefited the Central Illinois Foodbank. We loaded up all donations onto a Foodbank truck and celebrated the holiday spirit of giving! See photos from the 2008 wrap-up event here.