The bookstore and the GOAL program are teaming up to support the Hillsdale community with a canned goods drive. Nonperishable food items can be donated at the bookstore on Tuesday. They will be distributed by Salvation Army and High Rise, an organization that works to benefit residents of Hillsdale’s High Rise apartments.
Students will receive 20 percent off one bookstore item per can donated. The real incentive though, says coordinator of trade books Angie Berry, is that “there’s no better feeling than giving to the community.”
She estimates this is the fifth can drive the bookstore has held, with varying degrees of success.
“One year we only had about five boxes, and some years guys have had to come with truckloads,” Berry said.
The bookstore has made special effort this year to promote the can drive, even placing a radio ad on the airwaves.
Claire Gwilt, a student volunteer for Salvation Army, works directly with the people to whom the donations go.
“They are so grateful for everything that the Salvation Army is able to offer them,” Gwilt said in an email.
The drive, said Berry, is an opportunity for both the bookstore and Hillsdale College students to help those in need.
“We’re just so thankful and blessed to be able to support the community,” Berry said.