From left, promotions director Meghan Stolarz, program director Holly Fitzpatrick, station manager Molly Meller and news director Katie Fatzler prepare to ship out some of the 640 pounds of food Seton Hall University’s WSOU 89.5 FM collected during the station’s annual food drive for the Community FoodBank of New Jersey.
SOUTH ORANGE, NJ — As part of its commitment to community service, student-run WSOU 89.5 FM at Seton Hall University once again participated in the “Students Change Hunger” program, collecting 640 pounds of food for the Community Food Bank of New Jersey. The haul was 300 pounds more than was collected by the station last year and is the largest amount of food WSOU has gathered since it began its annual food drive.
WSOU kicked-off its 2016 food drive on Nov. 4 as part of the station’s College Radio Day activities. Through early December, the station collected donations from the students, faculty and staff.
“It is gratifying to see how committed the students of WSOU are to helping the hungry right here in our community,” station manager Molly Meller said in a press release. “We almost doubled last year’s donation totals and, as the station expands its efforts in the years ahead, I am confident WSOU will see its donations increase annually.”
The station’s participation in “Students Change Hunger” included on-air interviews and PSAs to raise listener awareness about hunger in New Jersey and how listeners can help.
“More than 1.3 million people in New Jersey require food assistance and it’s a major problem nationwide,” news director Katie Fatzler said in the release. “Factor in New York City and there are many people in our listening area impacted by not having enough to eat.”
WSOU General Manager Mark Maben is impressed by how rapidly this student-led effort has grown.
“It was just in the fall of 2014 that a student came up with the idea for the station to conduct a food drive,” Maben said in the release. “In a short time, our participation in ‘Students Change Hunger’ has become part of WSOU’s culture and demonstrates our commitment to serving those in need.”
WSOU’s donation of 640 pounds of food was brought to the Community FoodBank of New Jersey Headquarters in Hillside on Dec. 9. For more information about the Community FoodBank of New Jersey and how to help, visit www.cfbnj.org.
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