University of Minnesota Athletics
Gophers Help in Athletes Answer to Hunger Campaign
12/22/2015 12:00:00 AM | Student-Athlete Development
Dec. 22, 2015
Feature and Video created by Dan Motl,
University of Minnesota student-development intern
More than 60 University of Minnesota student-athletes and staff members joined together to volunteer their time on Monday, Dec. 14 throughout the halls of Bierman, in an effort to give back to the local community through an event called Athletes Answer to Hunger.
Athletes Answer to Hunger is a food-packing event, started a few years back by freshman Gopher football player, Blake Cashman, and his mother, Corinne Cashman--Meshberger. The Cashmans teamed up with an organization called Harvest Pack, to help bring a packing event to the campus of the University of Minnesota.
"I wanted to do a food packing event here because I did it at my high school last year and I saw how much of an impact it had on the community and the people that helped volunteer," Blake Cashman said. "I hoped that doing a packing event here at the University of Minnesota would create the same effect."
During the two-hour period of packing, Gopher student-athletes and staff members packed an amazing 11,000 nutritious meals for nearby children in need.
Following the packing process, Cashman and fellow Gopher student-athletes delivered the meals to The Sheridan Story, a local organization which distributes meals to local churches and schools for children in the surrounding community. These meals help feed the children over the weekend when school lunches are not provided.
"I hoped that this event could help bring awareness to my non-profit, so I can host more food packs throughout the community and state in the future," Cashman said.
