Graduate students in the College of Social Work are planning a weeklong campaign April 2-9 to collect canned food for Harvest Hope Food Bank and raise awareness of the growing problem of food insecurity and malnutrition in the Palmetto State.

Called "Hunger Knows No Rivalry Week," the initiative will include presentations and food drives at Dreher High School, Hand Middle School, and Radius Church in Lexington and culminate in a canned food drive at the April 9 USC-Clemson home baseball game.

The students have teamed up with two grocery stores and a Chick-Fil-A restaurant on Harbison Boulevard to encourage the community to donate food for Harvest Hope's emergency pantry. The grocery stores will be handing out bags to encourage shoppers to fill them with canned goods, and the Chick-Fil-A will have a barrel for food donations, as well.

Barrels also will be located across the university campus.

According to the U.S. Department of Agriculture, 6.3 percent of households in South Carolina (104,000) have very low food security, and 15.5 percent of households in the state (255,000) face food insecurity.

College of Social Work students have been researching the meaning of these numbers and the stories behind the numbers. This is why they planned a large event to get beyond the immediate Carolina community and get Clemson University involved as well.

Dennis Poole, dean of the College of Social Work, said he was proud of the students for leading such a critically important effort.

"To promote the well-being and social justice of vulnerable families in South Carolina we must collaborate with diverse people and organizations of our state," Poole said. "What better place to begin is there than hunger and food security?"

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