As part of their Orientation Week activities, first-year students at Redeemer University College collected more than 6700 pounds (3045 kg) of food for the Neighbour to Neighbour Centre. The Food Drive began on September 1 when Resident Assistants (RAs) at Redeemer dropped off about 2000 paper bags to homes in the Meadowlands subdivision that borders the university’s campus on Garner Road and Kitty Murray Lane. A week later, more than 200 first-year students, aided by staff and faculty drivers, picked up the filled bags. Micah van Dijk, Activities and Orientation Coordinator at Redeemer, was blown away at the amount of food collected. “We set a goal of 2200 pounds, or a metric tonne,” he said. “In the end, we more than quadrupled the 1550 pounds that we collected last year, which was the first time we ran the drive.” The food was delivered to the Neighbour to Neighbour Centre, a community based charitable organization for individuals and families on the Hamilton Mountain and surrounding area. The food collected will be distributed to the 1100 families that use their emergency food access programs each month. Neighbour to Neighbour estimates the value of the food collected at $16,755. Van Dijk was quick to point out that this would not have been possible without the generosity of the Meadowlands residents. “Our neighbours really stepped up and supported this initiative. We hope that we can continue to work with them to improve the lives of all those in our community.” Redeemer’s Orientation Week activities are designed to ease the transition of new students to university life and to welcome them to Redeemer and the greater Hamilton area. This year, Redeemer welcomed almost 300 new students to its campus, part of a record enrollment of more than 900 total students. Information about the programs and services offered by the Neighbour to Neighbour Centre can be found at www.n2ncentre.com.