C.A.N.S. Around The Oval started in 1986 as the pet project of Colorado State University graduate student Victoria Keller and two others. C.A.N.S. — an acronym for cash and nutrition supplies — quickly became a staple university tradition.
Forty years later, changes to tuition and cuts to food assistance programs mean the impact from C.A.N.S. is felt now more than ever.
According to data from the Food Bank for Larimer County and Feeding Colorado, over 2,000 people in Larimer County have lost their Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program benefits since June of last year.
“This just underscores the need for strong community partnerships that make sure resources are accessible to anyone that needs them,” said Brooke Corbel, philanthropy manager at the Food Bank for Larimer County. “During uncertain times (and) with these federal cuts, nobody knows what to expect. So as long as we can just lean on each other and continue collaborating and have diverse perspectives in a room together with creative people, we can hopefully all rally together to meet that need.”
Education about food insecurity is another goal the C.A.N.S. event creators have. Five years ago, organizers introduced CANversations to give those without the means to donate a way to still participate in the event and inspire those in attendance to continue acting even after the food drive ends.
“We didn’t think … the drive was meeting its full potential,” said Kathryn Conrad, senior program coordinator for Basic Needs at CSU. “CANversations came about as an educational component to the drive. Hopefully it gives people some lasting information that they can take into different things throughout their jobs, their schoolwork, whatever that is, for people to actually have a greater impact beyond just the one month that we’re raising food and funds.”
This year’s CANversations included guests like Homeward Alliance and the Larimer County Office of Housing Stability. These inclusions helped highlight the close relationship individual basic needs, such as food and housing security, share with one another.
Another thing that sets C.A.N.S. apart from other food drives is the element of friendly competition that encourages ingenuity among various teams.
“There was one group last year that put on a talent show and charged $1 entrance-fee tickets,” said Conrad. “They had challenged another organization to this talent show … the audience voted, and then the team that won the talent show got all of the entrance ticket fees to donate on behalf of their team.”
Different departments and organizations across CSU often sign up as teams and directly challenge one another. Last year, the College of Liberal Arts and the Walter Scott, Jr. College of Engineering went head-to-head against each other for the first time, and the dean of the losing school had to wear the T-shirt of the winning school. Fraternity and Sorority Life organizations have also begun to get involved with the event.
Teams that participate in C.A.N.S. aren’t limited to on-campus groups. Numerous businesses, local organizations and even schools within Poudre School District are big contributors. Both Rocky Mountain High School and Kinard Core Knowledge Middle School were in the top five of overall winners as part of last year’s competition.
“Poudre School District schools are a big part of this drive,” Conrad said. “A lot of the schools have teams, and they can get really competitive with each other. Like, a lot of the middle schools that are supposed to be rivals get really into it. So that’s always fun to see.”
But throughout the history of C.A.N.S., one team continuously places above the rest of the competition.
“C.A.N.S. is a clear way the College of Business puts Business for a Better World into practice,” said Ronn Smith, dean of CSU’s College of Business. “It’s easy to talk about purpose in a classroom. C.A.N.S. asks us to show it, and our College of Business community shows up every year. Our student organizations take it seriously, and they also have fun with it.”
During last year’s competition, the College of Business alone raised more than $24,000 and donated 1,250 pounds of food, which amounted to nearly 40% of the donations the food bank received during the drive.
This year’s event kicked off Sept. 14 and ended Oct. 14.
“It is exciting to see a community response where people are saying we care about this,” Conrad said. “Regardless of how much they donate or drive up in terms of dollars or pounds of food, it’s like a public display of people saying that they care about you and what you’re going through.”
Reach Brandon Burgess at life@collegian.com or on social media @RMCollegian.
