April 8, 2009

ELMHURST, Ill. - Oakland University claimed The Summit League's 2008-09 "Food Fight" title by raising nearly 4,300 pounds of food in the first-year league-wide food drive. The league designated 20 "Food Fight" games during the basketball season as part of an initiative tied in with Students Team Up To Fight Hunger (STUFH) and raised a combined total equivalent to 14,787.69 pounds among the nine competing member institutions.

"This was a great effort by our league's Student-Athlete Advisory Committee (SAAC) for a worthy endeavor," said Summit League Commissioner Tom Douple. "I am very happy to see student-athletes at our member institutions come together to provide this type of community service initiative."

A total of nine men's basketball games and nine women's games were selected for the "Food Fight" initiative with host schools having exactly one week to collect food and/or cash donations and two weeks if the date featured a men's and women's doubleheader. Oakland's designated date was Jan. 24 when the Golden Grizzlies hosted Western Illinois in a men's/women's doubleheader.

Oakland collected the equivalent of 4,299.89 lbs. for the Lighthouse of Oakland County to claim The Summit League's "Food Fight" trophy. The total edged South Dakota State's amount of 4,194 lbs. raised for the Brookings Food Pantry during a pair of January dates.

Three additional members surpassed the 1,000-pound amount with IPFW totaling 2,518 lbs., Southern Utah raising 1,869.00 lbs. and UMKC collecting 1,259.40 lbs. Rounding out the "Food Fight" standings were Oral Roberts, IUPUI, North Dakota State (only a partial total was available because of the Red River Flood) and Centenary.

"It is wonderful to see each university in The Summit League show that they care about their communities," said Daniel Kahn, president of Students Team Up to Fight Hunger. "Every food bank tells me that demand is up and donations down during these times of economic uncertainty, so every bit of food helps tremendously. The food fights held by these institutions will make a real difference."

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