Spread the Love

Spread the Love held its first event November 16, 2008 in McCormick Quad. Although it was a one-day event, the idea had been in the process since the beginning of the academic year. One of the students brought up the idea for Spread the Love at a Bonnycastle/Hancock Association Council meeting. She had participated in a similar event in high school and wanted to continue it at UVa. With the idea to make peanut butter & jelly sandwiches to donate to the local Charlottesville community in need, the students then expanded the idea for the event to also unite First-Year students with the goal of making 2012 sandwiches. The project then was overtaken by a group of students in Bonnycastle/Hancock who wanted to see the project come to life. With donations from OHill Dining Services, Harris Teeter, and Sam's Club the students did what they could to reach the community. The students got in contact with an organization called Hand-to Hand which would then distribute the sandwiches throughout the community. The day of the event, however, was far more successful than anyone imagined. If 2012 sandwiches seemed like a lot, the students surpassed their goal and their efforts resulted in 3,174 peanut butter & jelly sandwiches. With student participation at around 200 students, it was a great way for First-years to meet other First-years and bond over the sandwich project. It was truly wonderful to see the representative from Hand-to-Hand when she saw the results of the project, and she told the students that all of those sandwiches would be consumed within the next few days because they were in such great need. This year, Spread the Love has become an official CIO and has greatly expanded its project from last year. Working with Hoos Against Hunger and Homelessness, Campus Kitchens, the PB&J Fund, the Salvation Army, the Blue Ridge Area Food Network, as well as several area churches and Hand-to-Hand, Spread the Love is hoping to reach many more members of the community more effectively. The CIO also has popular t-shirts and is working more closely with O'Hill in advertising for the event with a special publicity PB&J meal the Thursday before the event. Only in its second year, Spread the Love continues to make outstanding progress and hopes to establish a strong foundation so that the CIO can continue even after its founding members graduate.