Teams join to fight hunger before Valero Alamo Bowl
Oregon Ducks and Oklahoma Sooners pitch in to volunteer at food bank
Swayde Watson couldn’t lose Wednesday night as the University of Oregon Ducks faced off against the University of Oklahoma Sooners at the 29th annual Valero Alamo Bowl.
The California native received a bachelor’s degree in chemistry and a master’s degree in higher education from the University of Oklahoma in 2018 and 2019, respectively, and now manages the University of Oregon Alumni Association’s student engagement program.
“Obviously, at the end of the day, I’m going to go home with a W under my belt,” he said as he volunteered at the San Antonio Food Bank hours before the Ducks and Sooners went head-to-head for the first time in the Alamo Bowl’s history.
Opposing fans from both universities set aside their rivalry the morning of the game to work toward one common goal: reducing food insecurity in San Antonio.
“Tonight, they’ll be fighting each other. But today, they’re fighting hunger,” San Antonio Food Bank President Eric Cooper said.
Taking directions from food bank staff, students and alumni from each university worked side by side in the food bank’s enormous warehouse to sort food items into categories. Their respective allegiances were evident from the hue of their clothes and accessories.
Some, like Alfredo Varela, University of Oregon associate director for international recruitment, and Lauren Miller Stanfield, the university’s assistant vice president for student services and enrollment management, donned green and yellow — Oregon’s colors. Others, like graduate students Dawson Pressel and Addison Paxton, were decked out in cream and crimson — Oklahoma’s colors.
Pressel and Paxton actually owe their friendship to their
shared interest in community service. The two women, who are studying adult and higher education, met through a volunteer organization during their undergrad years.
“And we’ve been friends ever since,” Paxton said.
Originally from San Antonio, Pressel even remembers volunteering at the food bank in high school.
“And so it’s kind of been cool to come back and serve at the same place,” she said. “Very full circle.”
While Oregon and Oklahoma had planned to send a combined 100 community members to volunteer at the food bank, between 50 and 75 actually showed because bad weather made air travel infeasible, according to Cooper. Snow began falling in the Pacific Northwest over the weekend as a winter storm ravaged the region, causing mass flight cancellations. Oregon President
Mike Schill was one of those who couldn’t make it.
However, the skeleton crew still managed to make a significant dent in the day’s workload. Sifting through enormous cardboard bins, they pulled out
individual food items — tuna, pasta, chili, ramen, oatmeal, raisins, bananas, Froot Loops, Cheerios, Hamburger Helper — and tossed them into boxes that bore labels like “Cereal” or “Canned Fruit” or “Dry Protein”
or “Glass Condiments.”
By the end of their shift, they had sorted 10,300 pounds of food, an amount that translates to 8,046 meals, Cooper said.
“The fact that folks were here today, it means that families will get food tomorrow and the next day,” the food bank president said.
Shirking the traditional tailgate to help host city’s food bank might strike an outside observer as a strange, if ennobling, way to spend the morning of the all-important game day, but Oregon Alumni Association Executive Director Raphe Beck said he feels it is important to remember food insecurity “is a reality for many people wherever we go.”
Noting both Oregon and Oklahoma run campus food pantries, he added taking action to address the issue represents “a real natural way for us to come together.”
“This city has been such a wonderful host to us, and we want to be more than just tourists coming through,” he said. “We want to really help to repay that generosity that the community has given us.”