Lecturer III Marianita Escamilla’s English writing class will host the fourth annual Zombie Walk Food Drive on Oct. 23. By bringing five cans of food, students are eligible for a zombie makeover.
The event will take place from 12:15 to 1:15 p.m. in the Studio Theater, located in Liberal Arts Building South 107 on the Edinburg campus.
All donations collected from the Zombie Walk Food Drive will go toward UTRGV’s Food Pantry.
“Zombies are kind of a representative of what happens when we let things go really bad,” Escamilla said. “We don’t want society to become … filled with zombies and things that we can’t control and … fix.”
Last year, over 100 students attended and helped with the event, and around 759 pounds of food were donated, according to Escamilla. This year, students are trying to break the record and their goal is to collect 1,000 pounds of food.
Escamilla’s class will be working with theater Assistant Professor Jennifer Saxton’s makeup class. Saxton’s class will do the zombie makeovers.
UTRGV’s Food Pantry will benefit from these donations, especially from high-demand foods such as canned chicken, tuna, water and tea.
“With all the items donated … here at the food pantry, we’re going to organize them and they’re gonna go directly out to the students,” said Carla Garcia, a psychology senior. “We are missing more liquids and some protein.”
Garcia said the Food Pantry gets donations from the Food Bank and community; therefore, their donations are selective and sometimes they don’t get the items that are most requested.
For students to get a zombie makeover, they are required to bring five cans of food. For two extra cans, they can enter a raffle, in which the prizes vary from departmental items to signed items from the “Z Nation” cast.
The English writing class has a Facebook page, “Zombie Walk Food Drive for UTRGV Food Pantry,” for students who wish to donate, but can’t attend the event. A link can be found in the publications section.
For more information, email Escamilla at marianita.escamilla@utrgv.edu.
