The Wabash football team is hungry. That's right, hungry. But the players don't want you to feed them. They want you to help them stamp out hunger right here in Montgomery County.
It's all part of the College and football team's plan for the coming season. While the nationally ranked team will put a great product on the field, it wants even more to put food on the tables of local residents.
You can do your part starting this Saturday at Byron P. Hollett Little Giant Stadium.
Saturday is our annual Community Day celebration, and we want nothing more than to pack the campus and the stadium with fans and friends. If we're successful, we'll pack the FISH Food Pantry, too.
Start your day in our Fine Arts Center, where Professor of Art Greg Huebner's new exhibit, Bass Lines, will be on display in the gallery during the morning hours. Then browse the Wabash bookstore for the latest book titles and Wabash sportswear.
At 11:30 a.m., head to the College Mall in front of Sparks Center, where everyone is invited to a free cookout. Bring a blanket or lawn chair, or just plop down in the grass under a shady tree and get to know the College, its students, and the many alumni who will be back for the home opener.
Burgers and hot dogs are on the menu, and we especially want to thank our new food service crew, Bon Appetit, for helping make the cookout possible.
Then, at 1 p.m., the Little Giant football team opens the season against a very talented Kalamazoo College team. Or, if soccer is your game, check out Mud Hollow Field where Coach George Perry's charges will host perennial national power Ohio Wesleyan University.
The soccer team is young and talented, while the football team returns almost every starter from last year's team that won seven straight games to end the season.
All events that day are free and open to the public. All we ask—and we hope you'll comply—is that you bring a donation of a non-perishable food item, which will be collected by the Sphinx Club at the entrances to the football stadium, and later will be taken to the FISH Food Pantry.
It's the start of the football team's drive to wipe out hunger, and at the same time reflects the team's season-long theme of continuing to be hungry for more success.
Long after this Saturday's Community Day is over, the players hope local fans will get in the habit of bringing food to games as a way of remembering that there are people in our own back yard who don't have enough to eat.
We've made nothing short of tremendous strides in strengthening the bonds between community and college, and we hope that trend continues throughout this year.
I hope to see you on campus this Saturday!