Augustana’s Sociology and Anthropology (SOAN) Society and Yarn Club collaborated to raise money for the River Bend Food Bank, a Davenport nonprofit, in efforts to fill gaps in funding due to the goverment shutdown and Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) freeze.
The “Chickens for Change” fundraiser was held in the Brew by the Slough from Nov. 12 through Nov. 21, where students could purchase homemade crocheted chickens, pins and raffle tickets for a chance to win two giant ‘Mama and Papa’ chickens.
River Bend Food Bank is a local food pantry that serves 23 counties between Illinois and Iowa, providing over 500,000 pounds of food every week. According to the nonprofit’s website, the local pantry has seen an increase in need due to SNAP cuts, and despite SNAP benefits restarting, the reduction puts 65,000 people in the organization’s service area at risk.
SOAN Society has partnered with River Bend Food Bank before in a campus food drive last semester. Senior Curtis Baldwin, president of SOAN Society, said every dollar raised, five meals could be made.
He said the groups’ goal was to raise $2,000, which equates to 10,000 meals. At the end of the fundraiser, they raised a total $3,061, providing over 15,000 meals.
Baldwin said that this project has been months in the making. Last year, during the World Relief Concert, Danielle Roman, art communication and donor stewardship associate, was selling crocheted chickens, and they were popular.
Baldwin said he saw this idea and thought that it would work well for the SOAN Society. Baldwin received the funding for the fundraiser from SOAN professor Adam Kaul, the SOAN department and the SOAN Society.
Baldwin, along with the Vice President of SOAN Society, senior Helena Smith, had been on the Yarn Club Executive Board for the past few years. This year, the two stepped down, but that connection between the two clubs stayed strong. When they contacted Yarn Club’s current President and Vice President, sophomores Arler Ohlmiller and Lillian McClintock, they happily agreed to help.
“We’ve had to reach out to Yarn Club, other friends and organizations on campus that we know, just to be like, ‘Is there anything you can do to help us?’ Whether it’s just like promotion or tabling,” Smith said. “It’s been a huge community effort overall.”
When it came to getting the Yarn Club involved, McClintock said she sent out the digital and physical forms of the chicken patterns. She said she also helped to collect materials from Baldwin’s house, so she could bring them to the club meetings.
She said that out of the 15 members who usually show up to meetings, more than half of them consistently helped make chickens. McClintock helped advertise the fundraiser through the Yarn Club’s Instagram page.
Smith said that SOAN Society wants to do another collaboration with Yarn Club in the spring. They said that the plan would be to sell crocheted flowers near Valentine’s Day.
“We’re just having fun doing this thing and I think it’s important to note that sometimes the best form of resistance isn’t fighting fire with fire,” Baldwin said.
