Students and alumni boxed and distributed food to at least 500 families in need throughout Portland Dec. 19-20.

Brian Lamson, vice president of the Lincoln Alumni Association, is coordinating the food drive with the Black Student Union. On Friday, nearly 100 students came to the cafeteria to build and pack food boxes to be delivered Saturday from 7 a.m.-12 p.m. to people in all parts of Portland. BSU organizers directing the project were Kaila Johnson, president, and Kyman Benson, treasurer.

“We feel that it’s important to recognize that there are students and families throughout Portland who are in need of support, which includes food,” said counselor and BSU adviser James McGee, who’s helping out with the drive.

According to freshman BSU member Sophia Wilson, parents and students with driver’s licenses would be a great help because they would be able to deliver the packages. “The project was started because we wanted to help families in need and do something to benefit our community,” she said. “The club also wanted to make sure that the freshmen and sophomores were included and getting involved with projects.”

While there was an attempt at a food drive last year, it didn’t work out as well as this year’s is expected to. “We hope this becomes a yearly event,” McGee said, “because there are parts of Portland that go hungry, and we want to help them have a meal this holiday season.”