PFW wins annual Community Harvest food drive

Quite literally, Purdue Fort Wayne crushed it.

With a record haul, PFW won Community Harvest Food Bank’s annual “U Can Crush Hunger” competition among eight northeast Indiana colleges and universities with 43,875 pounds of food donated. The final totals were announced Tuesday afternoon.

The Mastodons easily out-distanced the field and became the first participant in the campaign’s nine years to push past 40,000 pounds. The previous record was 34,085 pounds raised by Saint Francis in 2022.

“It was a collaborative effort, and it’s exciting that we really came together as a university to do this,” said Eric Manor, associate chief of campus and community wellbeing, who supervises the FRIENDS of the University Pantry. “I think it says a lot about PFW, the support of the pantry, the students who experience food insecurity, and the community members who support the university.”

This year’s total was also significantly more than the combined total of 37,446 pounds from second-place Indiana Tech and third-place Saint Francis. In fact, PFW raised more than it had in the past two years combined. PFW’s 2025 halfway result of 27,336 pounds, released a week ago, almost surpassed its previous record of 27,814 pounds in 2023.

Part of the increase was heightened awareness, Manor said. There were several campus events this semester asking for donations of canned goods, including the Campus United 5K, Chancellor’s Chili Fest, Dr. Acula’s Blood Drive, and Serving Those Who Serve. As an incentive to participate, the men’s basketball program also donated 100 tickets to Sunday’s game, a win over Dominican.

Manor said some of the donations have already been stocked in PFW’s two pantry locations, and more will be provided throughout the upcoming holiday season. That’s usually one of the pantry’s busiest times of the year.

“We’re just very happy and humbled to be able to play a part in this,” Manor said. “I really felt a sense of how much people care on our campus, but also a sense of school spirit and wanting to win this competition.”

Indiana University Fort Wayne also collected 10,856 pounds, which will be going to the pantry. Community Harvest’s overall campaign collected a record 137,334 pounds, easily outdistancing the goal of 125,000 pounds.

PFW’s pantry serves approximately 9,000 visitors each year. Funding is not provided by the university, and the budget fluctuates annually. Click here to learn more.