Items and volunteers are needed to help make this year's Adopt-A-Basket program a success.
OXFORD, Miss. – In its ninth year, the Adopt-A-Basket program is collecting items and soliciting volunteers to help feed families during the Thanksgiving holiday. This year, the University of Mississippi Associated Student Body, the Big Event and the Office of Volunteer Services are joining forces to organize the program.
“Since its inception, the program has helped more than 2,000 families in the Oxford and Lafayette community,” said Valerie Ross, UM assistant dean of students for multicultural affairs and volunteer services. “Today, the need is greater than ever. Many families in our area struggle to put food on the table for themselves and their children. Adopt-A-Basket helps make it a little bit easier.”
Each basket contains specific pantry staples, including cornmeal and sugar, as well as canned goods, potatoes and a gift card to a local grocery store. Items needed for each basket are: two large cans each of corn, green beans and chicken broth; one can of cranberry sauce, one can of sweetened condensed milk, 3 pounds of sweet potatoes and 3 pounds of white potatoes, one 5-pound bag each of sugar and cornmeal and one large onion. Gift cards in the amount of $35 from Larson’s, Kroger or Wal-Mart are also needed so that families can buy perishable items to complete a holiday meal.
To ensure that each basket is consistent, event organizers ask that donors provide each item on the list, but refrain from purchasing items not on the list. Donations should be delivered to the Jackson Avenue Center plaza for collection from 8 a.m. to 4 p.m. Nov. 19 and from 8 to 11 a.m. Nov. 20. Before Nov. 20, items can also be dropped off at the Office of the Dean of Students in the Student Union, Room 422. In addition to donations, volunteers are needed to help pack the baskets.
Basket recipients are identified through campus offices and departments, as well as through local community organizations, including Doors of Hope, More than a Meal and Interfaith Compassion Ministry.
“What began in our office of Volunteer Services is now becoming a student-led, student-organized effort,” Ross said. “The ASB and the Big Event have done a wonderful job of engaging other campus student organizations. It is rewarding to see so many students getting involved and wanting to take part in making a difference throughout our community.”
For more information about the program, contact Valerie Ross at vross@olemiss.edu or Rosie Nelson at crnelson@olemiss.edu.
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