Highlanders donors, volunteers serve up community spirit at Radford Gives Back

Eleven thousand, six hundred and fifty-five.

That’s a remarkable figure when you consider it represents the number of individual food items that will soon help fight food insecurity in the Radford community.

Eleven thousand, six hundred and fifty-five is the grand total of items – cans of ravioli, jars of peanut butter, boxes of mac and cheese, popcorn packets, oatmeal bowls, snacks and cans of fruit and veggies – that Radford University students, faculty and staff collected in mid-October to assist Radford City Schools’ Bobcats Backpack program.

More than 300 volunteers from the university packed the items at Radford Gives Back held on campus Wednesday, Oct. 21. Radford University Carilion in Roanoke hosted its seventh annual volunteer experience with Feeding Southwest Virginia the day before.

Radford Gives Back is an annual event built to collect food items for the Bobcat Backpack program, an organization started by Radford alumni Jane Fisher ’94, M.S. ’00, and Jenny Riffe, M.S.W. ’03, to provide nutritious weekend food and snacks for needy schoolchildren in the community.

On Tuesday, the day before the ceremonial event, Radford Student Involvement received, counted and sorted each of the 11,000-plus donated items in preparation for the volunteer event. That process continued up to just two hours before the 5 p.m. packing. Food items were then placed in cardboard boxes, stationed at tables around the MAC court inside the Student Recreation and Wellness Center.

A brief ceremony kicked off the Wednesday packing proceedings with brief speeches and a few awards, a new addition to this year’s event. Afterward, student volunteers, most of whom had pulled on free blue Radford Gives Back T-shirts, walked around the court and gathered one of each item into a white plastic grocery bag. President Bret Danilowicz stood halfway into the circuit, high-fiving and thanking each volunteer as they paraded by.

Once they completed the circuit, each volunteer placed their full bags at center court, forming a large shield with an “R” inside. Once all the bags were placed, volunteers gathered around the items for the traditional group photo.

“Here in Radford, our support of Bobcat Backpacks builds a healthy and thriving community,” Danilowicz said to the gathering. “Our work supports the development of Radford’s youngest learners and helps ensure their success in school and their future well-being.”

Out of the 11,655 items, 4,122 were donated by Radford’s faculty and staff. “It should be noted that a significant contribution was made by Dining Services,” said Jen Rentschler, director of Student Involvement and one of the event’s organizers. “They brought 2,380 items. And the president’s office made a large donation of 1,252 items.” 

 Highlander athletics teams gave 1,971 items. Ten different teams contributed this year. “That’s more than any other year we’ve held the event,” Rentschler said. “We’re so grateful for their full participation.”

Giving 723 items were students representing clubs and organizations. Those included the Student Government Association, Black Student Alliance, Occupational Therapy Club, Social Work Club, service fraternity Alpha Phi Omega and criminal justice professional fraternity Lambda Alpha Epsilon.

Additionally, fraternities and sororities donated 3,051 items, sports clubs 1,930, and an individual student gave 38 food items.

“Many of our clubs and student groups make this a centerpiece of their community service,” Danilowicz noted, “so I want to recognize the work of our university’s fraternities and sororities, Highlander athletic teams and sport clubs, who create awareness and gather donations.”

The president announced awards for this year’s top donors and presented a shiny gold trophy to a representative of each group. Those honors were:

Division winner: Central Administration and Athletics, with 1,259 items donated.

Greek Council winner: Interfraternity Council, 1,904.

Club and Organizations winner: National Student Speech Language Hearing Association, 374.

Club Sport winner: Men’s rugby, 1,214.

Individual winner: Robin Longworth, office manager for Connected Communities, with 151 items. When announcing the award, Danilowicz informed the gathering that it was Longworth’s birthday, prompting the group to sing “Happy Birthday” as she accepted the award.

Athletic Team winner: Radford women’s basketball team, with 419 food items. The team was practicing for the upcoming season at the Dedmon Center at the time of the event, so Director of Student-Athlete Support Services Dajah Berger accepted the award on the team’s behalf. 

“The women’s basketball team has a mission to give back and serve the community,” she said after picking up the trophy. “But it wasn’t just women’s basketball. All our athletics teams made large donations, and it is very important for the entire athletics community to be involved.”

The Wednesday event marked 11 years of Radford Gives Back. In the previous decade, the event has collected more than 150,000 items for Bobcat Backpacks, representing about 30% of the program’s annual stock. “At least 160 backpacks are distributed each week to children in Radford,” Danilowicz explained, “giving them nourishment and allowing them to have their needs fulfilled for three months.”

Danilowicz thanked everyone for their “work, donations and time” toward making Radford Gives Back a success. “Thank you,” he said, “for setting an outstanding example of our culture of care, and of our mission to Build Stronger Communities.”

Since the beginning of the program’s existence, Radford University has been dedicated to helping Radford City students in need, explained Bobcat Backpacks co-founder Riffe.

“You have done this. What you’re doing matters,” she said. “I hope that when you graduate, you’ll continue to live here at Radford and continue to give back. Or wherever you may go, I hope you find a charitable organization that touches your heart, and I hope you choose to continue to be a Radford Gives Back member in whatever community you live in.”

Speaking at the event, City of Radford Mayor David Horton ’90 told the student, faculty and staff volunteers they have done more than provide delicious food and snacks to area schoolchildren. “You’ve helped fuel young people to have opportunities for their dreams,” he said. “You’ve helped make things possible for our Bobcats throughout the City of Radford. And you’ve shown Radford University does indeed have a culture of care because that is part of a culture of service.”

Giving time to Radford Gives Back is personal for Kaela Moyer, a sophomore psychology major from Roanoke, Virginia. As a child, she sometimes received a backpack from a program at her elementary school. Knowing that someone gave to me before,” she said, “it makes me feel good to give back. I love helping people get what they need and deserve. Because of that, this event means a lot to me.”

The enormous community impact of Radford Gives Back is one reason Masami Pearson chose to volunteer for the event.

“There is a lot of food insecurity, especially in rural areas, and having events like Radford Gives Back helps tremendously,” said the senior social work major from Norfolk, Virginia. “It helps kids and their families. It helps the community, and it helps the schools. This event exemplifies Radford University’s culture of care.”