PFW leading the way in U Can Crush Hunger campaign

With a week remaining in the annual U Can Crush Hunger campaign, Purdue University Fort Wayne leads the field-by a wide margin. But that's no reason to stop now!

This drive to fight hunger across northeast Indiana is hosted by the Community Harvest Food Bank. It's also a good-natured competition among eight local colleges and universities, based on pounds of canned goods collected. Monetary donations are also accepted; $1 equals four pounds. The 2025 campaign concludes Friday.

As of the first weigh-in results, PFW had accumulated 27,336 pounds, compared to Indiana Tech's 12,044, and Indiana University Fort Wayne's 10,172.

PFW's best campaign was in 2023 when it collected a university-record 27,814 pounds. The overall record is 34,085 by Saint Francis in 2022.

To help the cause, Jon Coffman, PFW men's basketball coach, has donated 100 tickets to the Mastodons' 2 p.m. game on Sunday against Dominican at Gates Sports Center. According to Eric Manor, associate chief of campus and community wellbeing, he's willing to distribute tickets to anyone making a food or monetary donation this week. As always, PFW students with ID cards are admitted free to athletic events.

"Reach out to me with a donation, and I'll give you tickets," Manor said.

Options for donating:

• Place nonperishable food in the donation bins located next to the Herd Hideout on the first floor of Walb Student Union. These items will help stock PFW's own FRIENDS of the University Pantry.
• Make a secure donation online through Community Harvest Food Ban k by selecting Purdue Fort Wayne. Online donations collected via this option will be split between PFW's pantry and Community Harvest Food Bank's Farm Wagon program.