Trick-or-Feed raises $7,601, collects 760 non-perishable items on Princetoween

TheTrick-or-Feedcharity drive organized by the Interclub Council and Community Service Interclub Council on Oct. 29 raised approximately $9,500 compared to an expected amount of $5,000, CSICC co-chair Rachel Margulies ’16 said.

As part of the drive, students were required to have a Trick-or-Feed sticker on their PUID in order to gain admission to eating clubs on Oct. 29. Students could obtain stickers at Frist Campus Center or outside the Bendheim Center for Finance, and although donations were optional students were strongly encouraged to donate money, non-perishable food items or hygienic products. All donations went to the Trenton Area Soup Kitchen.

Trenton Area Soup Kitchen Manager of Finance and Administration Xiumei Chen did not respond to multiple requests for comment.

CSICC co-chair Jennifer Liu ’16 said that the Interclub Council and CSICC gave out 2,695 stickers. The drive amassed a total of $7,601 and 760 non-perishable items for the Trenton Area Soup Kitchen, she said.

She noted, citing the number of stickers that were given out, that over half of the undergraduate students participated in the fundraiser.

Liu added that the estimated value of the 760 non-perishable items was roughly $1,900, bringing the total to $9,500. Given the approximate value of $9,500 collected and 2,695 stickers given out, on average each person who received a sticker donated around $3.20 to the Trenton Area Soup Kitchen.

The most widely donated non-perishable items were toiletries — shampoos, soaps and deodorants — of which 221 items were collected, Liu said.One hundred forty-four canned goods, 81 dry pasta items, 204 toothbrushes and toothpaste items, 26 cereal/snack items, 63 peanut butter and Nutella items, five boxed food items and 16 miscellaneous items were also collected.

Margulies said that the Interclub Council and CSICC had organized Trick-or-Feed with modest expectations, not expecting to raise more than 5,000 dollars. That they ended up raising almost double that was a huge success, she said.

The results of Trick-or-Feed demonstrated how much the call to help others resonated with the campus community, CCICC co-chair Carson Crane '17 said. Interclub Council president Jean-Carlos Arenas '16 said that the success of the initiative was contingent on the student perspective toward community service.

“The success of Trick-or-Feed came not only in the money that we raised and the donations of the non-perishables, but also in the awareness we were able to raise for the charity and the fact that we were able to engage the entire campus community in the service of others,” Arenas said.

Arenas is a former chief copy editor and staff writer for The Daily Princetonian.

Crane said that the CSICC would absolutely consider making Trick-or-Feed an annual event, and Margulies said that she hopes subsequent leadership boards would continue doing Trick-or-Feed.

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"The success of Trick-or-Feed is another great example of Princeton students being ready to act in the nation's service and in the service of all nations," Arenas said.