General | 11/20/2009 9:48:10 AM

FAYETTEVILLE, N.C. - The USA South Athletic Conference conducted its annual "Cans Across the Conference" food drive. Shenandoah University won the competition, but Methodist contributed more than 1,300 food items.

The USA South Student Athlete Advisor Committee (SAAC) organized the canned food drive as a community service competition amongst the ten institutions in the USA South.  Each campus SAAC collected cans and other non-perishable items at their school from to benefit a local charity. It was up to each institution to decide how they wanted to collect and to which group the donation would go. The institution with the most items collected would be crowned the Cans Across the Conference Champion. 

Overall, the USA South institutions collected a Conference record 29,303 items, shattering the old record set last year by 6,496! Over the six-year history of the program, USA South Conference institutions have donated 114,227 items to various organizations.

The Methodist SAAC hosted a competition of its own between the athletic teams with women's basketball winning the top spot after donating 332 items. Women's golf finished second while track and cross country were third. Each institution donated their items to various organizations in their local communities. Methodist chose to donate its items to the Fayetteville Urban Ministries.