In lieu of collecting candy on Halloween, members of the Aurora University men's lacrosse program went door to door in costume and collected canned goods as part of the Northern Athletics Collegiate Conference Cans Across the Conference food drive.
In all 15 Spartans donned their costumes and set out to help those in need. At the end of the night, 500 food items were collected and will be sent to the Marie Wilkinson Food Pantry in Aurora, Ill. as part of the Spartan Student-Athlete Advisory Committee (SAAC) larger initiative.
 
SAAC annually organizes the canned food drive as a community service competition amongst the 12 institutions in the conference. Each campus SAAC collects cans and other non-perishable items at their school during October and November to benefit a local charity.
 
"We wanted to bring the AU sports programs together with the local community," said AU freshman Will Bradshaw. "The idea was something I had seen back home and people are
in a giving mood on Halloween. The neighbors were very receptive and seemed to welcome our efforts."
 
In addition to food items, one dollar donated will equal two cans, and toiletries (shampoo, soap, toothpaste, deodorant, etc.) will also be counted.
 
Anyone interested in donating to the SAAC Cans Across the Conference drive should contact Nicole Pieart at 630-844-6174 or npieart@aurora.edu. The drive runs through November 25, 2013.