Aggies CAN Annual Food Drive Begins, Adds Text Option for Donations

COLLEGE STATION – Texas A&M's Student-Athlete Advisory Committee (SAAC) is collecting donations for its annual Aggies CAN food drive benefitting the Brazos Valley Food Bank and the 12^th Can at various upcoming home events.
 
The goal for this year is to provide 30,000 meals between monetary donations and canned goods collected. A new feature this year is a text-to-donate option which goes directly to Brazos Valley Food Bank. Text AggiesCAN (as one word, no spaces) to 313131 and you will be directed to the Brazos Valley Food Bank website.
 
"Aggies CAN is a service project done by Texas A&M student-athletes each year and is completely student-athlete run," said SAAC President Ann Elizabeth Tebow, a senior on the Equestrian team. "It's done specifically around the beginning of November to help stock the Brazos Valley Food Bank for the holiday season. We also are very proud that we are able to help provide things to the 12^th Can, which is an on-campus food donation center where students are able to go if they are in need of different food items. 
 
"We're very excited for this year since our goal is to provide over 30,000 meals to our community, which would be the equivalent of half of our student body being able to receive a meal."
 
Canned goods and monetary donations will be accepted by the Aggies CAN group at volleyball and soccer matches held on Sunday, Oct. 27. On the following Friday, Nov. 1, home events for donations include an equestrian match, as well as men's and women's basketball games. The final home event for collection is the Aggie football game vs. UTSA on Saturday, Nov. 2.
 
"As Aggies one of our core values is selfless service and that is something we really value as an athletics department," noted Tebow. "We do a lot of service projects throughout the year, but this one is particularly special because it allows us to reach the whole Brazos Valley through the food bank. A huge thing that we have at Texas A&M is our 12^th Man and it's something we really value. Those are the people who come out and support us at every game and really make our athletics department special.
 
"So, it means a lot to us to be able to provide meals to people in the community and give back to them for all they do to support us."
 
In conjunction with the Aggies CAN food drive, Whataburger is donating $1,000 to the Brazos Valley Food Bank and will also donate 10,000 coupons for a free Whataburger to fans who donate.
 
Aggies CAN, which started in 2000, has evolved into the largest student-athlete volunteer-run canned food drive in the nation. There will be a campus competition for on-campus student organizations, which will run from Oct. 21-28, to see which organization can donate the most canned goods.
 
"We have a campus competition between on-campus organizations," said Tebow. "The Memorial Student Center gets involved as well as the Corp of Cadets, Residential Housing Association, Panhellenic and Class Councils. They are all astronomically successful in helping us get a lot of canned donations. Last year, they helped us collect over 20,000 pounds of food, which was incredible."
 
SAAC is a student organization comprised of student-athlete representatives from each Texas A&M athletics team. The group advocates for student-athlete welfare in the Athletics Department, on campus, within the SEC and within the NCAA while developing as leaders.  
 
SAAC also plans service projects throughout the year for all student-athletes to have an opportunity to give back to the Bryan-College Station community.
 
Aggies CAN Schedule
Sunday, October 27 | Volleyball vs. Georgia 2 p.m. | Soccer vs. Missouri 4 p.m.
Friday, November 1 | Equestrian vs. South Carolina 11 a.m.
Friday, November 1 | Women's Basketball vs. Oklahoma City 6 p.m. | Men's Basketball vs. TAMU-Kingsville 8 p.m.
Saturday, November 2 | Football vs. UTSA 11 a.m.