November 9, 2004

Writers Community Harvest benefit set for Nov. 18

WEST LAFAYETTE, Ind. – The annual Writers Community Harvest will collect donations for a local food bank on Nov. 18 during a 7:30 p.m. event in Purdue University's Grissom Hall, Room 180.

The event, a benefit for Food Finders Food Bank Inc. of Lafayette, will feature writers reading from their work. Writers include members of Purdue's Department of English – Patricia Henley, Donald Platt, Porter Shreve and Bich Minh Nguyen – and Dana Roeser, a local writer.

Food and cash donations will be taken at the door. Suggested admission is 10 canned or non-perishable items or $3, all of which will be donated to Food Finders. The benefit is part of the 2004 Insight Communications Community Harvest and is sponsored by Purdue's national literary magazine, the Sycamore Review.

"This is our second year of doing the Harvest this way – getting well-known local writers to read from their work," said Sean M. Conrey, graduate student in the English department and editor-in-chief of the Sycamore Review. "We're hoping to collect 2,000 cans this year because demand at Food Finders has risen so dramatically."

Event organizers, as part of their attempt to raise awareness about local hunger, also will coordinate a food drive and contest in the weeks leading up to the event. Any group, class or organization on Purdue's campus that would like to participate is invited to compete for free pizzas by collecting the most food.

For more information, contact Conrey at (765) 420-7786 or visit the Sycamore Review Web site. Other arrangements for donations may be made directly to Food Finders food bank by calling (765) 471-0062.

CONTACT: Conrey, (765) 420-7786, conreys@purdue.edu

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