Potluck no more: Raidersgiving expected to draw largest crowd, needs your support

Still small enough to have a bring-a-dish format in 2013, here Wright State University students work their way through the dessert line.

It may have started small, but now it’s gotten big and Raidersgiving needs your help.

The first meal was held in a single room in 2012 and had more volunteers than students. By year three, Raidersgiving had to be moved to the Hangar to accommodate a surge of students.

Grown well beyond its bring-a-dish beginnings, Raidersgiving 2015 is heading to center-court.

The fourth annual Thanksgiving Day event on Wright State’s Dayton Campus will be held on the floor of the McLin Gymnasium at the Wright State Nutter Center Nov. 26 from noon to 3 p.m.

Prepped for 500 to 1,000 students to attend, planners must now cater the event to be sure that all who want to come can be fed.

“This event has just grown so quickly,” said Craig This, interim director of the Office of Institutional Research. “We’ve been impressed each year with how much and how many people are willing to give to make this all possible. I know that the Wright State community will step up now that Raidersgiving is really taking off.”

Planners have created Adopt–a-Raider, a giving mechanism specific to Raidersgiving to pay for the added expense of catering the event. A gift of $10 feeds one student, $20 feeds two students and $100 feeds 10.

To help, visit wright.edu/give/raidersgiving.

As in past years, traditional Thanksgiving fare and Jeet Indian and Halal food will make for a bountiful feast, but there will be no potluck as in years past.

Perhaps most importantly, the camaraderie and kindness of the Wright State community should be a fun distraction for students unable to travel home for the holiday.

Making Christmas cards for children at Dayton Children’s Hospital is one of the activities that students and volunteers look forward to during Raidersgiving.

“We want to provide dinner, a holiday meal, fellowship and some activities for these students,” said This. “We’re not trying to replace what they get from home, just give them a fun environment and a chance to be with others for the holiday at their home away from home.”

This said board and card games will be provided for some post-feast fun. He also said he’s organizing a watch party for the Wright State men’s basketball game that evening.

“I think this event fits in with our mission to transform the lives of the students and communities we serve,” said This. “Raidersgiving shows that Wright State provides a sense of community and really helps out its students, faculty, staff and alumni and provides a safe and welcoming environment.”

Working together to host the 2015 event are campus organizations like the Alumni Association, Unclassified Staff Advisory Council, Classified Staff Advisory Council, the Friendship Food Pantry, Student Government, We Serve U, GLBTQ Allies, the Latino Club, Residence Services and the Campus Catholic Ministry.

Students, faculty and staff interested in participating or helping to organize Raidersgiving should contact Sommer Todd at sommer.todd@wright.edu or Teresa Pack at teresa.pack@wright.edu.