University of Houston Athletics
"Let's SAAC Hunger" Campaign Concludes with Unprecedented Success
12/1/2010 12:00:00 AM | Cougar Pride
Dec. 1, 2010
HOUSTON - The University of Houston athletic department completed its "Let's SAAC Hunger" campaign last month, raising more than 6,000 pounds of food in less than two weeks to benefit Star of Hope, a local organization created to serve Houston's homeless.
From Nov. 8-19, each team was paired with an administrative office in an effort to build department-wide camaraderie while focusing on the larger goal of fighting hunger in Houston. Together, the teams raised 5,845 canned goods, along with boxed dinners and bagged foods for Houston's less fortunate citizens.
On Wednesday, the teams reconvened to help the Star of Hope staff load and ship the food off to local shelters.
"These teams and our different departments really took this project and made it their own," Sasha Blake, Director of Cougar Pride Leadership Academy, said. "It was incredible to watch them bring in so much food. They also had a lot of fun building those relationships within the department, which is why we worked on teaming them up to work together. It was really amazing to watch and be involved with."
Each year, the Conference USA Student-Athlete Advisory Council (SAAC) groups compete to determine which school can collect the most canned food as part of the "Let's SAAC Hunger" campaign.
The Swimming and Diving team joined forces with Development to win the inter-department contest, registering 60 percent participation. Track and Field teamed up with the Athletics Administration office to bring in the most amount of cans (2,505).
According to Blake, who is in her first year at the University of Houston, this year's campaign has the makings of the most successful UH food drive in the athletic department's history.
"It's more than we've done in the past," Blake said. "It was truly awe-inspiring to watch them bring cans in and develop a little competitive edge with each other. The cool thing was that they saw what the ultimate goal was, feeding people in need."
For information about donating to the Star of Hope click here.
