Texas Tech’s Student Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics was busy in October with two volunteer events in the Lubbock community. The first was the Wreck Hunger Tailgate Food Drive. The second was helping with the Catholic Charities Halloween Festival. Both events SAND was able to use their knowledge of dietetics to make a change.

Learn what we did below:

Wreck Hunger Tailgate Food Drive: The South Plains Food Bank and United Supermarkets in Lubbock work together to wreck hunger in a 24-hour tailgate food drive at Market Street, 19th and Quaker in Lubbock, Texas. There are appearances by Raider Red, the Goin’ Band, and tailgating activities. Free food and prizes are awarded for food donations. We dressed up as fruits and veggies and talked to customers going into Market Street about donating any non-perishable goods. We had one customer donate $120 worth of non-perishable canned goods to us. It was amazing to see all the SAND members organizing $120 worth of food for the South Plains Food Bank. We had even more donations throughout the day and our members were there to help pack and organize all of the donated food for South Plains Food Bank.

Catholic Charities Halloween Festival: Every year, Catholic Charities Diocese of Lubbock puts together a free Halloween Festival for the Lubbock community. They hand out candy, have a small “Haunted House,” and children’s games throughout the building. SAND wanted to participate in this festival by handing out a healthy Halloween snack. We made a chex-mix type of snack that included gold fish crackers, raisins, and chocolate chips. The kids and their parents loved them! We had many people come back for more. This was a great way to talk to the community about different Halloween snacks that don’t have to be just candy.

Written by: Alexandra Garcia

About the Author:

Alexandra Garcia is the President of Texas Tech University’s Student Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics.