Weber State University’s all-digital radio station, KWCR, is sponsoring a food drive and skate party at Crossroads Skate Park in Ogden on November 21. The event, Hope for the Holidays: Donate and Skate, is open to the public. Admission will be $5 or free if participants bring non-perishable food items to donate to the Weber Cares Food Pantry.
According to KWCR General Manager Andrew Leon, KWCR has sponsored several food drives in the past, but none of them have been as interactive as a skate party. “KWCR has been doing Hope for the Holidays for years. In the past, we just met somewhere to collect food. This time, we wanted to make it a little bit more interactive, fun and community involved than it has been in the past,” Leon said.
Many groups on campus hold food drives that include activities, so KWCR figured that they could incorporate something fun into theirs, as well.
“The holidays come around, and there are so many food drives that we figured why not have a fun one where people can skateboard,” Spencer Hart, program director for KWCR, said.
KWCR Promotions Assistant Anastasia Drandakis said that KWCR’s food drives have been successful in the past and that she believes this food drive will be especially successful because the event fits their niche but is also different than anything the station has ever done before.
Crossroads Skate Park is located at 251 West 12th Street in Ogden. The event will run from noon to 4 p.m., and all ages are welcome to attend.
According to KWCR Music Director Michaela Funtanilla, there will be DJs from KWCR at Crossroads Skate Park that will be remote broadcasting and playing music at the event. Prizes will be given out for some of the best skate tricks. KWCR will be bringing swag, and Crossroads Skate Park will be contributing prizes, including stickers, t-shirts and possibly a skateboard.
Since making the switch to an all-digital format this year, KWCR has been proactively trying to get more involved with the community, “Our goal is to get involved with the community, get as much involvement as we possibly can, just go out and have a party and get people to show up and enjoy it more than just a box where people can drop off food donations,” Leon said.
KWCR is donating all of the non-perishable food that they collect from the food drive to the Weber Cares Food Pantry at Weber State University. The Weber Cares Food Pantry is on the fourth floor of the Shepherd Union. It has been in operation since 2011. The pantry helps students that would otherwise go hungry get access to food.
One in five Utah kids is unsure where their next meal will come from, according to the Utah Food Bank’s website, utahfoodbank.org. One in seven Utahns are at risk of missing a meal each day, and 423,000 people in Utah are food insecure.
Contact the Weber Cares Food Pantry via email at [email protected] for more information on the services the food pantry offers.
For more information about Hope for the Holidays: Donate and Skate, visit the KWCR Facebook page.
