Fighting Hunger In Our Community

USJ students in Lower, Middle, and Upper School collected thousands of canned vegetables and goods to donate to the Regional Inter-Faith Association (RIFA). Can collection is an annual tradition at USJ and took place September 12-22. This effort is led by USJ’s Student Government Association (SGA).

For the past 11 years, USJ has partnered with JCS and Trinity to collect cans for RIFA. This year combined efforts equaled 46,000 lbs.

SGA President Mimi Campbell said, “This is one of my favorite traditions at our school. We’ve been collecting cans at the school since we were in the Lower School and could barely carry them in our backpacks. For most, this is their first philanthropic activity to participate in and helps students realize how important community services is for our area to thrive.”

More than 40% of people in Jackson struggle with providing basic needs for their families including battling food scarcity. RIFA helps bridge this gap by providing free meals through their soup kitchen, household necessities through the thrift shop, pantry essentials through the food bank, and snack backpack programs.

Donations are accepted at RIFA year-round. The requested items include canned fruit, canned vegetables, canned meat, soup, peanut butter, and monetary donations.