Tens of thousands of Jell-O shots later, a national championship isn’t the only thing LSU brought back to Baton Rouge.
On Wednesday, the LSU Student Food Pantry received its $52,390 check from Rocco’s Pizza and Cantina in Omaha, Nebraska. The annual Jell-O Shot Challenge takes place during the College World Series, where each team’s fans compete to rack up the highest tally.
Proceeds are given back to the local communities, specifically their designated food banks.
The purple and gold crushed the other seven teams, and with a mighty score of over 50,000 shots sold, that money comes right back to campus.
Jennifer Cristina is the manager of operations for LSU Campus Life and the food pantry and will oversee how these new funds will be put to use.
“I’m so excited that Rocco’s has made this contribution to us and all of the other pantries across the country and all the other schools,” Cristina said. “I’m so grateful to them that they contribute so much of the money that they raised in that challenge to different charities everywhere.”
After 11 days, $130,009 was raised in total, and an extra $10,000 was donated by Louisiana local and Raising Cane’s owner Todd Graves.
LSU’s food pantry is a campus resource available to students struggling with food insecurity. According to Cristina, the pantry sees up to 450 students a day during the school year, and about 200 in the summer.
To feed that many people every day, the pantry has to stay stocked, and Rocco’s donation will be used for exactly that. Cristina plans for the money to be strictly dedicated to food supply-related necessities.
“That means that no matter when you come to the pantry, you can still get some food items to be able to bring home and have a meal,” Cristina said.
In anticipation of the donation, Cristina’s been able to make decisions more freely about what can be purchased. With some flexibility in how they can spend, it gives the pantry some breathing room ahead of the fall semester.
Cristina said this postseason in particular was very exciting because she knew if the team could just get to Omaha, the fans would show up.
The competition was never close after LSU took the early lead. As the scoreboard updated day after day, it showed that the Tigers weren’t only dominating on the field.
The top three final scores were Arkansas with 9075, Coastal Carolina with 9117 and LSU with 52,390 shots sold.
“We build teams that win, right?” Cristina said. “So it’s helped us make this team a winning team as well.”
Cristina’s goal is to build a community and spread the word to more students, potential volunteers and donors about the opportunities the pantry offers.
She encourages students in need to stop by on the first floor of the student union, and anyone interested in community service to find the LSU food pantry on TigerLink.
“The most exciting part for me is getting our name out there, because a lot of people don’t know we exist,” Cristina said. “I think it’s important to spread that message, but also to help gain awareness that we’re here, not just during baseball season.”
