Contributed by John Kohler | Fox Valley Technical College, WI
Following the events of Covid-19, making ends meet has been challenging for many families. Record-breaking inflation levels have caused the price of food to skyrocket over the past two years. These have been a difficult few years for college students working hard to pay tuition, earn an education and support themselves and their families. The FVTC food pantry is committed to supplying students in need with free food so that students can handle what will be on the table for dinner each night.
Given the current economic climate, the food pantry ran dry in October 2022. Coincidently, that is the same time the FVTC DECA chapter partakes in Trick-or-Can each year. With the pantry’s problem hitting close to home with their chapter, FVTC DECA decided to do everything they could to help. Trick-or-Can is a state-wide DECA fundraising event that challenges chapters to collect as many non-perishable and canned food items as possible during October. The name comes from a strategy many chapters have adopted for collecting items. Chapters go to homes around their community about a week before Halloween to ask people if they would be willing to donate any food items. Chapters will ask this by clipping a letter outlining their request for a bag and then eaving bags on as many people’s doorsteps as possible. The letter asks people to fill the donation bags and keep them until Halloween night. DECA members then dress up and go trick-or-treating on Halloween night in search of donations rather than candy. The event is a fun way to feel like a kid again and raise many donations.
FVTC’s DECA chapter raised over 400 food items through this event and used those donations to restock the school’s food pantry. As chapter president, I helped other members fill the shelves of the pantry. This was an incredibly rewarding experience to be a part of. The pantry workers’ eyes lit up as we came in carrying boxes full of food! The other members and I were thrilled to see firsthand how much this would help our classmates. As our chapter continues to grow over the years, we are excited to see our ability to help the Fox Valley Technical College food pantry and other organizations grow. I cannot wait to see what this chapter achieves next year, and I hope we can keep contributing to making our community a better place.
Follow FVTC DECA on Instagram @fvtcdeca.
