When he first helped arrange a food drive in 2009 to benefit the Merced County Food Bank, UC Merced student Matthew Lo never thought his organization would break any records.
But this year the program, put on by the UC Merced chapter of the Kappa Sigma fraternity, broke the record for most food donated to the food bank by a single local group.
The goods weighed more than a ton -- 2,296 pounds with an estimated value of $2,218.62.
Lo, president of Kappa Sigma and a senior majoring in biological sciences, said the drive is an annual effort that all members are required to take part in.
"This is an event we put together so we can give back to the Merced community," he said. "We make it mandatory that everybody takes part. We have about 35 guys passing out fliers, picking up food and taking donations."
Although it's a required function, fraternity members take pride in the effort and there's no trouble with participation, said Renato Bravo, community service chairman for Kappa Sigma and a junior majoring in biology.
"This is one of our biggest events," he said, adding that he and his fraternity brothers hope to top this year's haul next time.
The group starts the project a week before Veterans Day, passing out fliers for about six hours in various neighborhoods to spread awareness of the campaign.
A week later the group spends a day going door to door collecting the food, some that's already left out on the front step.
Word about the food crusade has spread since its start in 2009, and donations have quadrupled in size since then, Lo noted.
"We're going to more neighborhoods," he said. "Now that we've done it a couple of years, people remember and they're leaving more food, bigger boxes. People are more generous now."
This year's donation was an all-time record amount for a single group, said Phyllis Legg, executive director of the Merced County Food Bank, which provides food to dozens of pantries throughout the county that distribute the goods to those in need.
"It was wonderful," she said. "It's a big help, especially around the holidays."
The food bank plans to have a workday Dec. 3 to sort the donated items, Legg said.
Despite all the effort and time spent planning the operation, Lo said even he's surprised by what it's grown into.
"I was always, in the back of my mind, hoping that this would be an annual thing, because when you start an event you hope that it's going to get bigger and bigger and something great. That's one of the reasons why we all came to UC Merced, to be a part of making something our own," he said. "But I never thought we'd be donating over a ton of food."
Reporter Mike North can be reached at (209) 385-2453 or mnorth@mercedsunstar.com.
EDITOR'S NOTE: 'Merced Matters' appears every Monday. In it we will tell the stories of Mercedians -- ordinary people doing extraordinary things, extraordinary people doing ordinary things and a lot in between. We hope you like our effort to let you know more about others in our community, and we welcome your suggestions. Please contact Mike Tharp at mtharp@mercedsunstar.com or (209) 385-2456 with your ideas for 'Merced Matters.'
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