The Mayville State University Cometeers and Student Education Association helped to “Fill the Dome” during the annual student-led drive to collect food for area families in need. The food collected is distributed via the efforts of the Great Plains Food Bank in Fargo, N.D. The May-Port Food Pantry is one of the many entities that will benefit.
The actual filling of the 80,000-square-foot Fargodome with food donations took place Monday and Tuesday, Nov. 25 and 26. Students from more than 50 schools in North Dakota and Minnesota filled four semitrailers with about 183,000 pounds of donations. Donations had been collected over the past five months. The food was arranged on the floor of the Fargodome.
Mayville State Cometeers and Student Education Association members placed food collection boxes across the Mayville State campus several weeks ago. Representatives delivered the contributions that had accumulated in those boxes to the Fargodome on Monday morning, Nov. 25.
Cometeers faculty advisor Rhonda Nelson said, “The representatives from ‘Fill the Dome’ and Great Plains Food Bank were very appreciative of our efforts.”
This was Mayville State’s first time to participate in the “Fill the Dome” project, which was started by a group of high school students in 2007.
“Honestly,” Nelson added, “our contribution was small in comparison to some of the others. It was, however more than before, and we started strong. Our team is already making plans and gearing up for next year! I would anticipate a much larger food drive next year.”
Photo: Mayville State representatives appropriately chose to show their Comet pride when arranging their food donations in the shape of the Mayville State University “action M” logo on the Fargodome floor. Pictured from left to right are Cometeers faculty advisor Rhonda Nelson, Student Education Association representative Beth Cakebread, and Cometeers Brady Eichelberger and Jacob Allam.