'Breaking Night' food drive now taking donations

Radford University education students who are members of the Pulaski County Spring-Fall Elementary Education Cohort have organized the "Breaking Night" Food Drive to complement the 2016 McGlothlin Celebration of Teaching at the university.

The food drive runs March 28 – April 8.

On-campus collection points are: Peters Hall lobby, Dalton, the Radford University Bookstore, Waldron, Hurlburt Student Center and McConnell Library.

Off-campus collection sites include: Radford Recreation Center, Radford Public Library, Anytime Fitness, Radford Adventure Club and Central United Methodist Church in Radford.

Food items that can be donated include: elbow macaroni; cream of chicken, mushroom or celery soups; canned chicken; canned roast beef; green beans; fruit in juice; and evaporated milk. No canned corn or peas.

Supplies that can be donated include paper towels, waxed paper and heavy duty trash bags.

All collected food will be donated to Radford-Fairlawn Daily Bread, which provides free meals each day from 11 a.m. to 12:15 p.m. in a dining room located at 501 E. Main St. in Radford. The organization also delivers food to homebound individuals through its Meals on Wheels program.

Radford University seniors Emily Mays and Hannah Martin are part of the 11-person cohort who organized the food drive, connecting it with the April 7 McGlothlin Celebration of Teaching. Liz Murray, author of “Breaking Night: A Memoir of Forgiveness, Survival, and My Journey from Homeless to Harvard,” will be the keynote speaker.

The cohort members organized the food drive after drawing inspiration from Murray's book, in which she describes being hungry and homeless as a teenager.

"Liz Murray's story inspired us because she talked in her book about receiving 'pantry packs,'" Mays said. "She relied on a place called The Door to get food."

The Radford University Bookstore is offering a 10 percent discount on the price of the book "Breaking Night" with a food donation.

The McGlothlin Celebration of Teaching is an annual event, now in its 17th year, honoring the Blue Ridge region's best teachers with the McGlothlin Awards for Teaching Excellence. Six finalists will be selected for the 2016 awards. These awards are some of the largest monetary awards for teaching in the nation.

Two winners, who will be awarded $25,000 each, will be announced at the ceremony conducted by the McGlothlin Foundation, Blue Ridge PBS and Radford University’s College of Education and Human Development. The awards ceremony begins at 6:30 p.m. at Radford University’s Bondurant Auditorium at Preston Hall.

To learn more about the food drive, contact, Carol Bland at cbland@radford.edu.

To learn more about the McGlothlin Celebration of Teaching event at RU, email mcglothlin@radford.edu.

Mar 29, 2016
Chad Osborne
(540) 831-7761
caosborne@radford.edu