Holiday stars project
Final Recap of the 2009 Holiday Stars Project
The Holiday Stars Project for 2009 finished December 3, as Chancellor Ringeisen once again thanked and congratulated the UIS community for their efforts to eliminate hunger here in Springfield. You can read more and watch a video about the final celebration here.
Breakdown of Donations
Final collection amount: 6209 lbs!
This is 1897 pounds more than last year's collection, an increase of 44%.
Campus collection points
The top five campus collection points were:
- Business Services Building - 169 lbs
- Student Life Building - 162 lbs
- Office of the Chancellor - 144 lbs
- Student Affairs Building - 129 lbs
- Office of Development - 117 lbs
Total amount collected on campus: 1759 lbs
Total collected during the Trick-or-Eat competition: 4450 lbs
This truly was a total community effort; hundreds of students, faculty, and staff gave their time, effort, and resources to make this second year of the project even more successful than the first one. The Holiday Stars committee extends a sincere thank you to all who helped turn the University of Illinois Springfield into a positive force for good.
It shouldn't stop here...
Though we often pay more attention to it during the holidays, hunger is a problem that is with us year round. If you'd like more information on hunger in Illinois and how you can help people in need, please go to http://www.feedingillinois.org/ or download the CNCS Anti-Hunger Toolkit (.pdf file).
The Volunteer & Civic Engagement Center is here to help. If you've got an idea or a plan to take action in the Springfield community, please contact us at volunteer@uis.edu.
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:
- Alternative Spring Break - 610.1 pounds
- AmeriCorps M3C - 475.8 pounds
- 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.
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.
What 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.
First 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.
- 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
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.
