Food Drive 2001 kicked off last Saturday at the Saint Louis University Make a Difference Day as one of the groups of volunteers went door-to-door in different St. Louis neighborhoods to collect cans for the food drive.

In the past, Campus Ministry-sponsored food drives have lasted one week, but this year’s drive has been extended to three weeks.

“We’ve expanded the food drive to three weeks to try to get as many students on campus to participate in as many events as possible,” said Michael Schreiner, Food Drive Committee adviser.

In addition to the Make a Difference Day collection, this first week’s events include parking lot collections, which took place on Monday and Tuesday, penny war competitions in the residence halls and Marchetti Towers apartments and the Can-A-Palooza Variety Show.

The University-wide variety show, which is organized by the Food Drive Committee and the Student Activities Board, will take place today at 8 p.m. in the Saint Louis Room of the Busch Memorial Center. There is no admission charge to Can-A-Palooza, and the audience will be able to vote for the acts they think are best by donating either 50 cents or one canned good per vote.

According to Michelle Rogers, one of the student coordinators of the Food Drive Committee, the food drive isn’t simply about raising money and collecting food.

“We don’t have a specific goal about how much money we want to raise, but we do have a specific goal to raise awareness about different social issues,” Rogers said.

She explained that the food drive is made up of events that are not just intended to collect food and money, but are also designed to make students more conscious of problems and conditions surrounding poverty, homelessness and the welfare system.

An example of one such event is the Welfare Simulation that will take place on Saturday, Nov. 3, from 9:30 a.m. to 12 p.m. in the BMC Marketplace.

“This activity lets students see welfare from a new perspective, to see what it would be like to live the life of someone on welfare,” Schreiner said.

“[The simulation] is an eye-opening experience that breaks down stereotypes of who’s on welfare and shows holes in the system,” he added.

According to Schreiner, the financial proceeds from the three weeks of events will be donated to local, national and international outreach centers as well as some of the sites of the Campus Ministry spring break mission trips.

The canned goods will be donated to local outreach centers, such as the Karen House Catholic Worker.

Anyone with questions about the food drive or in making a donation can stop by the Campus Ministry office or call 977-2425.