By Fleming Smith
Junior Editor
On February 6, the Kappa Omega sorority hosted the second annual Sewanee Hearts and Grocery Carts event in the Bishops Common Hearth Room. The afternoon centered around a raffle and a silent auction, including baskets and prizes from different groups on campus and businesses like Ivy Wild and The Sewanee Inn. Sewanee Hearts and Grocery Carts earned $1,550 and collected 416 cans to be donated to the Community Action Committee (C.A.C.) for the benefit of families in the local area.
Sewanee Hearts and Grocery Carts followed a Valentine’s Day theme in homage to the next weekend. “We decorated cookies, made Valentine’s cards, ate lots of food, bid on baskets, and won raffles—all for a great cause,” said Suzanne Herrin (C’19) on the event. The spotlight of the afternoon focused on the prizes available, ranging from a $200 Chick-fil-A giftcard for the organization who brought in the most canned goods—awarded to Gamma Sigma Phi for 120 donated cans—to $50 giftcards to several local restaurants. Students, faculty, staff, and community members could buy or exchange canned goods for tickets, and at the event, they placed tickets in a box marked for each prize. At the end of the event, Dean Bruce, Katie Snyder (C’17), and April Kosakoff (C’16) picked tickets from each box to reward the prizes.
Last year, the event raised almost $1,000 dollars for the C.A.C. The sorority’s new goal was $1,500 dollars, which they exceeded by fifty dollars this year. Several campus organizations supported the event, including themed houses and Greek organizations, donating baskets to be auctioned off as well as bringing in canned goods. Community businesses also contributed gift cards or edible goods for the raffle and auction. Sewanee Hearts and Grocery Carts was truly a community event designed to help Sewanee give back to the area.
Although the event itself lasted two hours, preparing it took much longer. “The process of planning SHGC was cumulative over several months. Planning began in the early fall and we worked on securing donors and planning logistics,” said Kelly Caviness (C’18), a Kappa Omega who helped organize the afternoon. “I thought the event was a huge success, not just because we met our financial goal, but because we were able to engage the greater community outside of students. The event ultimately couldn’t have happened without Katie’s vision for its success,” she continued, referencing Snyder, who planned the event for the second year in a row.
The C.A.C., located at Otey Parish, is a nonprofit food bank and financial assistance center that serves several families in the Sewanee area. This time of year, the C.A.C. especially needs donations of funds and canned foods to supply the demand of local families. Kappa Omega’s Sewanee Hearts and Grocery Carts was a great step forward to helping those in need get through the winter.
Photos courtesy of Instagram account cac_sewanee