SAN DIEGO (KGTV) - San Diego State University set a new record for its Aztec Rock Hunger annual food drive, collecting 590,503 pounds of food from Sept. 28 through Oct. 21, which the school will now donate to the Jacobs & Cushman Food Bank.
The amount exceeds last years total of 588,915 pounds, and includes both non-perishable foods and $1 donations, which the school collected at the SDSU bookstore, athletic events, SDSU Dining locations and Aztec Proud events.
Jim Flores, CEO of the Jacobs and Cushman San Diego Food Bank, said the partnership with the school, which has raised more than two million pounds of food since its inception in 2008, has been beneficial.
"We are very grateful to the students, faculty and administration at San Diego State University for supporting the food bank," Flores said. "We are currently feeding more than 37,000 people every month in communities throughout the county, including thousands of students through our College Hunger-relief Program."
Aztecs Rock Hunger was started by Associated Students (A.S.) which works alongside multiple campus groups, including SDSU Athletics and the College Area Business District.
Christian Onwuka, A.S. vice president of financial affairs, said the partnership is a source of pride.
"It has been amazing to see so many different divisions and facets of campus come together and give their all toward this campaign fighting food insecurity," he said.
Not all of the donations will go to the food bank, however. 20 percent of the food remaining on campus will go towards helping SDSU's Economic Crisis Response Team (ECRT).
The ECRT works to prevent food insecurity for students on campus, as well as provide emergency support for those in a sudden economic crisis.
