CORVALLIS, Ore. - Oregon State University's Students in Free Enterprise group has taken first place in the national Let's Can Hunger: Hunger Awareness Competition.

The competition is sponsored each year by the national Students in Free Enterprise organization and Campbell Soup Company. As a reward, OSU's team will receive $3,000 and will be featured in an upcoming Campbell Soup print advertisement.

The second- and third-place winners were Monroe College in New York and Oklahoma State University.

OSU's group won the competition for their work on the national Hunger in the Homeland tour. The students from OSU's Austin Entrepreneurship Program and Students in Free Enterprise spent most of the summer traveling more than 6,000 miles to cities such as San Francisco, Calif.; Tucson, Ariz.; Raleigh, N.C.; and Boise, Idaho, to volunteer at innovative food banks and soup kitchens.

"We all put a lot of time, effort, energy and heart into the Hunger in the Homeland campaign and it was such a privilege to work with so many amazing people and programs," said Andrea White, president of OSU's Students in Free Enterprise. "A first-place prize will help to bring additional awareness to hunger and how we can all help to end it on both local and national levels."

The group just finished touring the state of Oregon, visiting 25 different locations that are tackling hunger locally.

Now the students plan to raise 55,000 pounds of food - a pound for every Corvallis resident. The group plans to use some of the creative techniques they picked up on their trip to make their own food drive successful.

The students are blogging about their adventures fighting hunger here: http://hungerinthehomeland.blogspot.com/

Source: 

Sandy Neubaum, 541-929-7439

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