The UA community will come together to “Stuff the CatTran” today to benefit an Arizona food bank.
The UA Staff Advisory Council, Parking and Transportation Services and Office of Community Relations will join forces for the fifth annual “Stuff the CatTran” campaign today to benefit the Community Food Bank of Southern Arizona. Stuff the CatTran will take place from 7 a.m. to 7 p.m. on the turnout on the UA Mall, just east of the Integrated Learning Center at Cherry Avenue and University Boulevard.
“There was a huge budget cut at our campus a few years ago,” said Claudia Arias, administrative associate for the College of Engineering and chairperson of the event. “Our staff and students were affected and these individuals were needing assistance from nonprofit organizations. People are hungry all year round and not just on the holidays. A lot of staff and students needed help to stock their shelves and get food.”
Tucson and UA community members are asked to bring non-perishable food items such as cereal, canned meats and canned vegetables. Cash contributions will also be accepted.
This is the largest food drive that the Community Food Bank has in the spring, Arias said. Due to the fact that a lot of people can only afford one or two meals a day, UA community members thought it was important to collaborate with the food bank in order to tackle this issue, Arias added.
“The food bank does miracles with all their food donations,” Arias said. “For every dollar you donate, 97 cents goes to the food program directly. They can do more with money than some of the food that is donated, but at this point it is whatever people can donate.”
This event is the final one, after weeks of smaller donations, said Sheila McGinnis, director of outreach and community partnership. Stuff the CatTran is part of the 2013 UA4Food food drive that brings together the efforts of the faculty, staff and students. It is a program of the Office of Community Relations and is supported by the Marshall Foundation, McGinnis said.
UA4Food started on March 11 and will end today with this event.
UA President Ann Weaver Hart will also stop by to donate food between 11:30 a.m. and 12:30 p.m.
“20.4 percent of the people that live right here in Tucson live below the federal poverty line,” said Jack Parris, public relations manager for the Community Food Bank. “We have it right here in our backyard.”
After the CatTran is completely filled, a UA driver will take the donations to the food bank.
According to Bill Davidson, marketing manager for Parking & Transportation Services, allowing the use of a CatTran for the event was an easy decision.
“We thought that since the CatTran is an iconic figure on campus, it seems to make sense that we fill it up,” Davidson said. “Once we fill it up, we can easily drive it down to the food bank.”
