by Kaylea Brown, Student Reporter
What started out as a joke led four girls to collect more donated items than they thought they would.
The Ranger Connection competition for a donation drive organized by four girls is the reason they were able to collect 183.5 pounds worth of donated items for the Campus Cabinet.
The drive came out of a community service assignment in Kaylyn Hansen’s habitudes class, but Hansen said the results the girls had – and the amount of effort they put into the project – blew her away.
“I think all four girls worked very hard together,” Hansen said. “I think their effort in making sure that they did the project to 100% of their capabilities was what made the project so successful. The girls took their leadership styles and leaderships skills and put those to work.”
Hansen said the extra steps the girls took, such as visiting businesses, is what made the difference in this project. Rather than just setting out boxes, the girls encouraged students to donate food by making it into a competition to see which Ranger Connection class would donate the most food.
Kaylin Blatchford, a freshman business major from Cleveland, Oklahoma, was one of the girls that came up with the idea to create an incentive between Ranger Connection classes to encourage people to donate. The idea came out of a joke between her and Kaylea Brown, another member of the group, because it is what their high school used to do.
At the end of the project, that idea is what helped the group collect 183.5 pounds of food, hygiene products, bedding, and $50 for the Campus Cabinet food pantry. Blatchford said she was surprised to see the amount that the group was able to raise.
“I knew we were going to make some impact,” Blatchford said. “I just didn’t know we were going to make as big of an impact as we did, but I’m proud that we did.”
When it was time to bring the items to the Campus Cabinet, Angelia Case, who runs the food pantry, said the pride in the girls’ eyes was evident. Case said she encourages the girls and other students to keep up with service-learning.
It is a challenge to be able to do this kind of work amid the coronavirus, but many groups on campus are still finding ways to do it, and it fits with what they tell clients of the Campus Cabinet, Case said.
“We just want to help,” Case said. “There’s no judgment. There’s nothing like that. We just want to help.”
Case said she encourages people who are in need of something to reach out to the organization for assistance. She also encourages students to “pay it forward” when they’re able to.
“When you’re set up and life is going well … give back,” Case said. “Whether it’s to us at the Campus Cabinet or someone else, give your time, give resources, whatever you can do to be helpful, is appreciated very much.”