Aurora University students donate food, diapers to area pantry

More than 1,600 food and diaper donations from Aurora University students, faculty and staff were loaded for the Aurora Area Interfaith Food Pantry on Nov. 24.

AU students loading donations were Geremie Savoy, Aurora; Adra Grant, Park Forest; and Anthony Faraci, Romeoville.

Cheryl Kessler, drive coordinator and project coordinator for Dolan and Murphy real estate in Aurora, a co-sponsor of the second annual holiday food drive, led the donation pickup.

The campus effort for the holiday drive was sponsored by the Greek Council, an organization of fraternities and sororities.

Brandy Raffel, AU director of new student programs and assistant director of student activities, said the Office of Student Activities was "filled to the brim" with donations.

According to Raffel, the Social Work and Counseling Services offices led campus units participating in the drive. The campus mailroom staff donated the most amount of food per person in an office, Raffel added.

"It is an extreme pleasure to be surrounded by students/faculty/staff who care so much about their community," Raffel said in an e-mail to employees. "Thank you all for giving me an additional reason to be thankful this holiday season!"

Kessler said the goal of this year's drive was to collect more than the two semi-truckloads of food gathered in the 2008 drive.