St. Joe’s Greek Council hosted its annual can castle drive on Oct. 2, collecting non-perishable canned goods that members built into a castle on the edge of Curran Lawn.

This year’s event was part of “Greek Olympics,” in which fraternity and sorority members participated in Olympic-style out-door games.

“The philanthropic aspect is why I want-ed to come out,” said Gianna Tolomeo ’22, a member of Alpha Gamma Delta.

Tolomeo said the relay races and other games were an enticement as well since it was the first in-person event she had attended because of the pandemic. Tolomeo said her sorority donated hundreds of cans.

Organizers estimated about 750 cans were donated.

At the end of the event, the cans were given to HawkHUB, the university’s food and basic needs resource center. HawkHUB kept some of the cans and donated others to two community partners, Pinn Memorial Baptist Church in Philadelphia and Grands Stepping Up in Drexel Hill.

“This is an event that’s gone on for years, but since the start of HawkHUB on campus, it became even more close to home because we’re directly benefiting our own campus, instead of just donating to the community
partners,” said Nicole Visco ’22, co-president of the Greek Council and a member of Alpha Gamma Delta.

In addition to donations from Greek Life members, donations came from the Office of Admissions and the Office of Student Life as well, Visco said. Maggie Brennen ’22, a member of HawkHUB’s social media team, a member of Alpha Omicron Phi and Greek Council’s vice president of Public Relations, said HawkHUB is grateful for the donations.

“Last year, the can castle carried us all the way through to this year, so it was a huge help” Brennen said.

Maggie Brennen ’22 is the Assistant Opinions Editor for The Hawk.