Most Sacramento State students do not have to worry about where their next meal is coming from. But unfortunately, there are people out there who do.

So Sac State is hosting the 2007 State Employees’ Food Drive from Nov. 19 through Dec. 21.

Anyone interested in donating can drop off canned foods and other non-perishable items at over 40 designated locations on campus.

The food drive is honored by California state agencies and is organized on campus by the Director of Transportation and Parking, Nancy Fox and the Associate Vice President of Business Operations, Ronald Grant.

Sac State has participated for more than 33 years, and last year raised 6,408 pounds of food after food and monetary donations. This year, organizers hope to increase this number by 10 percent, or 640.8 more pounds.

“We’re trying to expand every year to get better participation,” Fox said.

So each year, she talks to representatives in all the offices on campus to find out if they are interested in placing collection boxes in their office. Then she makes a list of the locations and how many boxes each would like to host a week.

In addition to food donations, monetary donations are also important, Fox said.

For every dollar donated, approximately two and a half pounds of food can be purchased. Therefore, California Emergency Foodlink, the organization behind the whole operation, can buy food in bulk for families, seniors and children in the community.

Fox, who has been involved for more than 10 years, said although the drive is organized by employees, she encourages campus-wide involvement.

“I would love to get more student participation,” she said.

She encourages students to organize their own donation efforts off-campus and to bring all they can to one of the locations.

While putting up a sign about the food drive in the University Transportation and Parking Services office, Fox said two students asked how they could get involved, so she suggested they organize a collection from people they know, then bring the donations to the school once they have accumulated enough.

She urges all students and faculty to do the same, whether for community service or the spirit of giving.

The State Employees’ Food Drive is also a competition for the participating agencies. However, Fox said here at Sac State, the contest aspect of it is not as important as helping those in need. This is the reason many of the fliers posted around campus refer to the drive as the “2007 Holiday Food Drive.”

“We want to make sure that students know the food drive is not for employees’ benefit, but for the good of the community,” Fox said.

A number of Sac State students agree that simply donating for the cause is enough incentive.

“I think it’s great,” said Karen Teresi, a humanities major.

Teresi, who has donated at her daughter’s school but never at Sac State, said raising money or donating food would be beneficial.

Nacole Smith, a graduating Biological Sciences major who works for the Women’s Resource Center on campus, said she had not heard about the food drive before, but now plans to tell everyone that comes into her job about it.

Although Smith had never heard of the cause, it seems many other Sac State students were eager to get involved at the beginning. As of Nov. 21, the third day of collection, 16 boxes of food had already been donated.

Martha Jean, who works at one of the information booths where food donations can be dropped off, said that in her experience, most donators leave at least half a bag.

For those who plan on donating larger or heavier amounts, the easiest way to drop off is by driving through one of the information booths located at either campus entrance.

For more information on where to send money and a complete list of drop-off locations, visit http://www.csus.edu/utaps/HolidayFoodDrive2007.pdf.