Bowling, quarters and food for hungry students came together Monday night at Wildcat Lanes in the Shepherd Union.

Bowling for Quarters and Cans was held to raise awareness for Weber Cares food pantry and assist in replenishing its shelves with assorted canned goods. Student Involvement and Leaderships’s Clubs and Organizations sponsored the event.

Vice President of Clubs and Organizations Greg Woodfield explained that Wildcat Lanes donated all eight lanes to give back to those in need. Students paid $2 for their shoe rentals.

The price of admission was a can of food, Woodfield said, and for every strike people achieved on the bowling lanes, they were to donate a quarter, with the proceeds going to Weber Cares.

About 75 to 80 people crowded the lanes, according to freshman Brendan Thomas, who worked the event, and a table set up near the entrance was piled high with cans.

“It was hectic,” he said. “But overall it was a pretty good night.”

Woodfield said 142 cans of food were collected and $172 was donated from strikes.

Weber Cares pantry volunteer Arusa Ashfaq said she noticed the difference on the shelves after the event. She has been volunteering since the start of the semester to fulfill volunteer hours for her pre-med major.

“Afterward, I was like, OK, this is what this is supposed to look like.”

The purpose of the Weber Cares programs are to increase healthy eating options, decrease food insecurity and increase students’ ability to stay in school and finish their degree. The program maintains a pantry on the fourth floor of the Shepherd Union directly above the bowling alley.

The pantry is open Monday through Friday 12:30-3:30 p.m. and offers food to students who are running low.

It has been running low on nonperishable items and needs more assistance keeping its shelves stocked.

Ashfaq, a sophomore, said the food drives from this fall have been helpful, but she is concerned about the supply come spring.

“This is the season of giving, and there are a lot of drives going on,” she said. Ashfaq added that volunteers did put away some of the extra supplies for later.

If you are interested in donating non-perishable food items to the Weber cares pantry, feel free to look on Weber State University’s online home page, or you can ask the front desk in the Shepherd Union.

This story has been corrected to show Will Numbers as the author of the article.