The University of South Carolina School of Law’s Pro Bono Board has wrapped up another successful food drive benefitting Harvest Hope Food Bank. The board’s “Harvest Hope-oween” is one of two annual food drives that give law students, faculty and staff an opportunity to give back locally.

This year, the Pro Bono Board exceeded their goal of 10 thousand “pounds” of food. Pounds were measured by the weight of the food donations or one “pound” for every dollar donated. The group raised 3,950 pounds of food and $6,829, for a total of 10,779 “pounds.”

The donations were delivered to the Harvest Hope Food Bank at the end of the drive, which ran from Oct. 23-27. Third-year student and Pro Bono Board Co-President Grant LeFever says the long-standing partnership between the Pro Bono Program and Harvest Hope is a top priority in many of their projects.

“The ultimate goal is to spread a message about the pervasiveness of hunger in South Carolina, especially in the Midlands. Harvest Hope continues to work to end this epidemic. It is so cool to see the law school community come together to contribute to an organization that provides such an invaluable service for our community.”

The program’s commitment to Harvest Hope is evident in their work that spans more than 20 years. Since 1994, the Pro Bono Program has donated more than 480 thousand pounds of food through its semi-annual food drive. Harvest Hope is also one of the Incoming Student Day of Service project sites each year, where first-year students spend an afternoon packaging food alongside their professors.

“We owe so much of our success to the leadership and support of the school’s faculty and staff—like Dean Wilcox, Professors Medlin and Stoughton, and Pam Robinson—who continually find creative ways to challenge students to give, whether it’s time, food or money,” says LeFever.

In celebration of reaching their donation goal, Dean Wilcox treated the law school community to a pizza party in the courtyard on Halloween.