Averett University students who are a part of SAAC,(Student-Athlete Advisory Committee)  a student-run organization, participate in an event each year called Cans Across the Conference.They compete against other schools in the USA South Conference to see which university can collect the most cans. Averett has won the competition for the past 3 years.

SAAC students hold an event called Dorm Raid where members go around campus at different dorm halls to collect cans. Office Raid is where they have the same concept in mind but go around offices on campus to find cans as well. This year they visited five different staff and faculty areas on Averett’s campus to look for cans to donate. 

 In order to get other students more involved SAAC holds a competition for different sports teams to see which team can collect the most cans and trophies are handed out to the winning team with the most cans. All the items collected go to a good cause.

“We donate our cans to God’s Storehouse, which is a food distribution site in Danville, VA,” senior Allison Kelley said. God’s Storehouse is a non-profit organization that is worked with at Averett. Many students participate in community service projects and other volunteer work for God’s Storehouse. 

Zamiyah Mangum, senior who is a part of SAAC, is proud of how the university community comes together to help others.

“We have a large amount of participation in our Averett community when it comes to cans across the conference,” Magnum said. “So many of our athletes’ families bring non-perishable items from home to support us too.”

With this ongoing competition around the Averett campus and the Danville community, SAAC’s goal is to make sure that families are able to have food for the holiday season.