FAYETTEVILLE, N.C. — With a grand total of 12,146 items, Averett University won the USA South's Cans Across the Conference while helping give back to the Danville community.

The holidays are a time to give thanks and appreciate the blessings in one's life. Cans Across the Conference, initiated in 2004, is a way for the members of the USA South Conference Student-Athlete Advisory Committee (SAAC) to help make it a happier holiday in their communities. SAAC organized the canned food drive as a community service competition amongst the 13 institutions in the USA South. Each campus SAAC collected cans and other non-perishable items at their school to benefit a local charity. It was up to each institution to decide how they wanted to collect and to which group the donation would go. The institution with the most items collected would be crowned the Cans Across the Conference Champion.

Averett won Cans Across the Conference for the first time, collecting a school-record 12,146 canned goods and food items that will be donated locally to God's Storehouse in Danville. Averett's collection is the third-most garnered in a single year by an institution in the history of the competition. The Cougars will be presented the Cans Across the Conference Trophy at a later date.

"It's always good to help others, and hopefully with our donations we will be able to help a lot of people in the Danville community," Averett SAAC President Samm Chandler said. "That's the main goal of Cans Across the Conference — helping others. It's very exciting to help Averett win Cans Across the Conference for the first time. We put a lot of work into different events and fundraising campaigns this semester for the competititon, so it's awesome to see how much hard work pays off. I'm even more excited that we donated so many cans to an organization that helps those in need."

Ferrum College, the two-time defending champions, collected 8,108 items (the eighth-highest total in a single year by an institution in the history of the competition) to finish second while Methodist University's 4,461 items rounded out the top-three. Overall, the USA South institutions collected 33,907 items this fall which is the third-highest total in competition history. Over the 12-year history of the program, USA South Conference institutions have donated 339,094 items to various organizations.


Below is a list of the local organizations where the USA South institutions donated their collections:
Averett University - God's Storehouse, a food bank for the less fortunate in Danville, Virginia.
Covenant College - Chattanooga Area Food Bank.
Ferrum College - Split between five local Franklin County, Virginia food banks.
Greensboro College - Urban Ministry of Greensboro, North Carolina.
Huntingdon College - Montgomery, Alabama Area Food Bank.
LaGrange College - Our Daily Bread Soup Kitchen in LaGrange, Georgia.
Mary Baldwin College - Blue Ridge, Virginia-Area Food Bank.
Maryville College - Second Harvest Food Bank of East Tennessee.
Meredith College - "The Daisy Trade Too" which is an on campus organization that supports Meredith students and their families in need of food.
Methodist University - Fayetteville, North Carolina Urban Ministry Food Bank.
N.C. Wesleyan College - Rocky Mount, North Carolina Peacemakers Family Center.
Piedmont College - Clarkesville, Georgia Soup Kitchen.
William Peace University - The Raleigh, North Carolina Salvation Army.