Reagan Johnson/Winonan
Athletes from all 15 Winona State University sports teams spent their Halloween night going door-to-door asking for canned goods and non-perishable items.
Winona State athletes conducted their second annual Trick-or-Treat for Cans and collected more than 3,200 items.
Jennifer Flowers, the Winona State associate athletic director, organized the event. According to Flowers, they received only positive feedback from the community.
“It’s such a great local cause, so the community really embraces it,” Flowers said. Flowers mentioned that some of the houses already had bags of food ready for the student athletes to pick up.
The city of Winona was divided into areas, and the athletes split into small groups, each taking a section.
The groups started at 6 p.m. with arms full of empty bags and a map. The student athletes returned 90 minutes later to the McCown Gym with their donations.
Some of the items were donated to Winona Volunteer Services, which distributes food, clothing and emergency assistance to people in need. The rest of the items were donated to the Winona Food Pantry.
Since athletes collected for less time this year, the teams received 400 fewer items than last year.
Flowers said the feedback from the athletes is also positive.
“It’s a quick, fun way to really have a lasting impact, and they get to do something fun with their teammates and other student athletes,” Flowers said.
Track team member Haley Reinke agreed with Flowers.
“I thought it was fun and entertaining,” Reinke said. She said it was something she would love to be a part of again.
Eric Schoh, athletic director, proposed the initial idea for the event since he had done a similar event at his previous school. He brought the idea to the Student Athlete Advisory Committee. The committee loved the idea and decided to give it a try for the first time last year. After a successful first year they decided to continue the event.
“We hope this becomes a lasting event for the Winona community,” Flowers said. “We can’t thank the community enough for being willing to help those in need.”
Contact Reagan at [email protected]
