Memorial's Campus Food Bank is launching a new campaign to try and increase donations from faculty and staff.

The facility, located in the basement of the Corte Real Building on the St. John's campus, is celebrating its 10th anniversary this year.

The food bank is run by a loyal group of volunteers who depend largely on donations from the Community Food Sharing Association and employees here at the university to keep shelves well stocked.

To help ensure there's lots of food for those in need, the Campus Food Bank is sponsoring a unique event this month.

The 12 Days of Christmas in July Food Drive runs from July 14-25.

Departments, offices and units are being encouraged to “get involved and compete against each other with the winning group receiving a party sub from Subway for a staff lunch,” explained Kenny Curlew, community living programmer with Housing, Food and Conference Services and one of the organizers of the fundraiser.

“The idea of the food drive is simple,” he added. “It plays off the 12 days of Christmas theme. Each day, there are suggested food items to donate and the amount of the item corresponds to the day of giving. Points will be assigned per item donated with bonus points for collecting the requested amount each day. Bonus points will also be assigned for items donated that aren't on the list.”

Employees are not expected to collect all the items the food bank is looking for; rather units and departments are being encouraged to collaborate and collect the non-perishable items as a team.

At the end of the food drive, volunteers will collect items and tally up results to see which office collected the most.

Mr. Curlew said that the summer months are a good time to remind staff and faculty at the university that Memorial's Campus Food Bank is a year-round operation and that donations are always needed. “We have students and others who come to the food bank during the summer. Some people might think this is a time of the year when we're closed since most of the students are not on campus,” he said. “But that's not the case.”

“We're hoping as many units, offices and departments get involved in this food drive.”

The following is a listing of the requested items for the 12 Days of Christmas in July Food Drive:

Day 1              1 package of rice or pasta

Day 2              2 bags of sugar

Day 3              3 cans of canned meat

Day 4              4 1-litre juice packages (orange or apple)

Day 5              5 cans of fruit (not individual size)

Day 6              6 cans of corn or peas

Day 7              7 cans of tin milk

Day 8              8 tea bags (1 package)

Day 9              9 cans of vegetable or chicken noodle soup

Day10             10 packages of Mr. Noodles

Day 11            11 school snacks (no nuts please!)

Day 12            12 individual juice boxes

For more information or to arrange pick up of your donations, e-mail Kenny Curlew or Pradeep Bobby, president of the food bank's board of directors.

The Campus Food Bank is open Monday and Thursday from 3:30-5:30 p.m. and 7-8 p.m., as well as Sunday from 4-5 p.m.