Senior biology major Whitney Jackson and senior pre-veterinary major Cassie Bayer count stacks and stacks of canned food during Cans Across America Nov. 7.

During a nationwide attempt Nov. 7 to break the Guinness® World Record for the largest food drive by a non-charitable organization in a 24-hour period, students, faculty and staff of The University of Findlay, as well as community businesses and individuals, collected 6,544.82 pounds of canned goods.

Sodexho, the University’s food service provider, organized the nationwide event, named Cans Across America. College campuses across the nation participated. The on-campus food drive was sponsored by campus dining services and the UF chapter of Habitat for Humanity, which also provided assistance the day of the event.

Several community businesses contributed to the effort. Great Scot in Findlay donated 2,448 cans of food, and the Trenton Avenue Wal-Mart, the Unitarian Universalist Church of Blanchard Valley and Ron’s Super Valu in Deshler also made contributions.

On-campus competition winners include:

• Student organization: Pre-Vet Club with 347.31 pounds

• Residential floor: second floor, South Lovett with 44.22 pounds

• Townhouse, house or cottage: 344 Davis St. with 208.41 pounds

• Campus department: School of Pharmacy with 294.28

“The spirit of the Findlay community, along with the University community, truly was shining for this event,” said David Harr, UF director of dining services. “Great Scot was an outstanding contributor of 2,448 cans. The UF community met the challenge with enthusiasm not only for trying to collect the most number of cans, but also to give back to the community, which is still rebounding from the August flood. We are proud to be a small part of making somebody’s day better.”

To count toward the world-record goal, all food items must have been within the expiration dates and not damaged. Each donated item was recorded in a log book and witnessed by community and University representatives. Only cans collected on Nov. 7 counted toward the effort. After the cans were accounted for, they were donated to CHOPIN Hall in Findlay.

Nationwide results are not yet available.