BLSA Food Drive Benefits Area Families in Need

by Jaime Welch-Donahue | November 22, 2005

William & Mary Law School’s entrance hall resembled a well-stocked pantry on Nov. 21, thanks to the efforts of the Black Law Students Association. More than two dozen filled-to-the-brim baskets of food, hundreds of canned and packaged Thanksgiving meal ingredients, and numerous grocery store gift cards and cash donations for turkeys were contributed to help make the holidays a happier time for area families in need.

The BLSA’s Thanksgiving Basket Contest is held each year and takes the form of a spirited competition as student and staff groups vie against each other for top honors in both quantity of food collected and artful display. Among this year’s creative entries: a truly great pumpkin filled with seasonal foods, surrounded by a “field” of canned and boxed foods, a scarecrow, and a colorful flock of paper turkeys. Other entries vying for the judges’ attention included, for example, a toboggan full of meal fixings decorated with a winter hat, scarf and gloves, and a barrel of tempting treats disguised as a Pilgrim’s hat.

BLSA President John H. Ambrose, Jr. ’07 noted that service activities are an important part of the group’s mission. In addition to the annual basket competition, the BLSA hosts blood drives and provides mentors for at-risk teenagers in the area. The group also held bake sales and a business card drive to benefit people affected by Hurricane Katrina. “This is a really giving community at the Law School,” said Ambrose.

The following entries received recognition in the 2005 basket contest:

First place: Tarley Molloy

Second place: Clancy Dignan & Baker

Best presentation by a student group: Killilea Stern & McCool

Best presentation by a non-student group: Law Library

Special recognition for a basket by an individual: Annie Lahren ’06

Special BLSA recognition for outstanding effort: Green McGinty & Eberhardt