The Associated Student Body is serving as one of three official sponsors for the ninth annual Adopt-A-Basket in Oxford as part of a service initiative before Thanksgiving break.
Adopt-A-Basket’s goal is to put together baskets of ingredients to make a Thanksgiving dinner that will then be given to local families who are in need during the holidays.
Each year, various campus organizations volunteer to collect items to fill baskets for the program. ASB President Gregory Alston is excited to be a part of the service initiative.
“This year I wanted ASB to get involved with a service project that benefits the Oxford community,” Alston said. “We saw Adopt-A-Basket as a great way to do that.”
The ASB, sponsoring the program alongside the Big Event and the Office of Volunteer Services, will help with food donations this week. The ASB is looking for students to get involved by donating items such as cans of corn, green beans, gift cards to local grocery stores, cans of cranberry sauce and other nonperishable food items.
Students are also encouraged to help pack the baskets at the Jackson Avenue Center. Students can volunteer and donate items this week from 8 a.m. to 4 p.m. today and from 8 a.m. to noon tomorrow.
ASB cabinet member Brittani Acuff is helping to lead the project after she heard of the need to help those less fortunate in the Oxford area.
“ASB Senate is also really helping as well,” Acuff said. “The ASB Senate Student Life Committee has been serving on the Adopt-A-Basket committee since the beginning, and each Senate committee is donating a basket.”
Alston said he considers this project a good way to remember the purpose of the holiday season: to be thankful for what we have and to serve others.
“Thanksgiving is a time where we can spend time with family and friends and be thankful for what we have been given,” he said. “I am happy that several families will be able to enjoy a nice meal over the Thanksgiving break.”
-Allison Slusher
ajslushe@go.olemiss.edu
