A campus-wide food drive has been initiated by two Student Association members, in hopes of helping the needy in DeKalb.

Tana Titre, SA public relations advisor, and SA senator Mike Kipp organized the food drive and plan to make it an annual event at NIU.

The food drive began Nov. 27, and is scheduled to run until Friday. Students are asked to donate foods that will not spoil, such as canned goods.

Drop boxes have been placed in all residence halls and in the second floor SA office in the Holmes Student Center. Titre said letters also have been sent to all sororities and fraternities, in hopes that they also will contribute.

Titre said that she got the idea for a food drive from Kipp, who belongs to a fraternity that held a food drive for Thanksgiving.

“I know some of the residence halls have been doing food drives during Thanksgiving, and I thought it would be nice to organize one for (the holidays),” Titre said.

Titre then talked to her committee members and the welfare committee about the drive. It was decided to try and get the entire campus together for a full-scale effort.

“There’s never been a drive this large, and we thought it would be a good idea to make everyone a part of the event,” Titre said.

The SA also will be encouraging faculty and staff to contribute to the event. Other organizations also have been called and informed of the drive, in case they want to contribute to the cause.

Titre said the only problem which has arisen during the drive is keeping an eye on the drop boxes, so no one can steal their contents.

A drop box was originally going to be placed at the first floor of the student center, but Titre said that it would be a better idea to place all the boxes in areas where they could be constantly monitored.

“Since this is the first time that SA has ever done something like this for charity, we’re really not sure how it’s going to turn out,” Titre said. “Many people complain about how terrible dorm food is, but it’s important to realize that many people don’t even have that.”

Keith Waltrip, a member of the SA, said that any contribution will be beneficial, and “even one can will help a great deal.”

Eagle food stores will be donating damaged canned goods to the drive, Titre said. All the food collected will be distributed to the homeless and needy of DeKalb, before the holidays.