VCU news

By Daryl Grove

For the third Annual Alumni Charity Challenge, alumni associations from 27 different universities will set up tents at Hardywood Park Craft Brewery and compete to collect the most canned goods. The challenge begins Wednesday, Sept. 30, at 5:30 p.m. and runs for three hours. The school with the heaviest haul at the end of the night will see its name etched on a trophy and, more importantly, all collected goods will be donated to FeedMore, the organization that includes the Central Virginia Food Bank.

We collect as many cans as we can in three hours, and that can have an impact within the next day.

The event is organized by Virginia Commonwealth University Alumni’s RVA GOLD (Graduates of the Last Decade) Chapter. Timmy Nguyen, a 2011 graduate of the School of Business, is president of the chapter and organizer of the event. Nguyen says the chapter started the Alumni Charity Challenge in 2013 because, “We want to be the catalyst for getting chapters in Virginia together. We want to raise awareness in the Richmond community about hunger and we want to aggressively attack the problem of food scarcity.”

Seven alumni associations took part in the first Alumni Charity Challenge in 2013 and 13 associations were involved in 2014. Both years George Mason University won the trophy for most goods collected. Nguyen says the event has been recognized with proclamations from the mayor of Richmond and the governor of Virginia, and the organizers have received letters of congratulations from the United States Congress and Senate.

The 2015 Alumni Charity Challenge is the biggest yet, with 28 schools represented, including eight from beyond the borders of the commonwealth. The goal is to collect 15,000 pounds of canned food, which Nguyen says can make a difference to hungry families in Central Virginia almost immediately. “We collect as many cans as we can in three hours, and that can have an impact within the next day,” he says.

The event at Hardywood’s brewery, 2408 Ownby Lane, will feature a DJ from Hot 106.1, five food trucks and, of course, Hardywood beer on tap. A percentage of beer sales will benefit the FRIENDS Association for Children, a Jackson Ward nonprofit offering childhood development programs. Members of the public are invited and encouraged to attend, and anyone donating five or more canned goods will receive a T-shirt and koozie, courtesy of event sponsors Nationwide and Virginia Credit Union.

In-state participants:

Christopher Newport University

George Mason

Hampton University

James Madison University

Longwood University

University of Mary Washington

Old Dominion University

Radford University

Randolph–Macon College

Roanoke College

University of Virginia

Virginia Commonwealth University

Virginia State University

Virginia Tech

Virginia Military Institute

Washington and Lee University

William & Mary

Out-of-state participants:

Auburn University

Clemson University

Elon University

Howard University

University of Michigan

Penn State

University of Georgia

University of North Carolina

University of Southern California

Wake Forest University

Questions about the event can be emailed to AlumniCharityChallenge@gmail.com.

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