The Annual Halloween Canned Food Drive

Benefiting the Second Harvest Food Bank of Metrolina

Every year the Eta Rho chapter at UNC Charlotte sponsors its Halloween Canned Food Drive to benefit the Second Harvest Food Bank of Metrolina. The event takes place every October 31st, Halloween night, from 5pm-9pm in parking lot 5a on the UNC Charlotte campus.

The night of the event, brothers along with members of other participating campus organizations visit local Charlotte neighborhoods and go door-to-door trick-or-treating for canned foods. When all the communities are covered, the students return to the UNC Charlotte campus where the donations are loaded into a truck provided by the Second Harvest Food Bank. This year, we collected 2,484 pounds of food which brings our 14 year total to around 22,500 pounds of canned goods.

Second Harvest Food Bank of Metrolina provides food to more than 650,000 people annually through its network of over 450 partner agencies in 17 North and South Carolina counties. These agencies serve people who seek food assistance. They include the working poor (those with low wages and little or no benefits), the unemployed, the elderly and disabled on fixed incomes, the homeless, those experiencing temporary emergencies, families and children.

This is the Eta Rho chapter's largest service project, and many of the people in the neighborhoods are ready for the trick-or-treaters seeking canned goods instead of candy on the eve of Halloween. It has become a tradition for the chapter as well as the community around UNC Charlotte.