Non-Perishable Food Items and Books Being Collected at MCC Commencement

Manchester, Conn., – (May 27, 2009)… The Manchester Community College chapter of Phi Theta Kappa is inviting each graduate to bring a non-perishable food item or a book to commencement in support of Project Graduation, an effort to collect non-perishable food items and books for the community. Items collected at commencement will be taken to the Manchester Area Conference of Churches, the town of Manchester’s soup kitchen, pantry and thrift store. Students can bring items to the drop-off location inside the Lowe Building lobby, where graduates will be lining up before commencement.

Over the last seven years, community college students nationwide have donated over one million items to local community relief agencies through Project Graduation, a program sponsored by Phi Theta Kappa, the international honor society for community, junior and technical colleges.

This event is especially urgent now as local food banks are in dire need of donations.

The Manchester Area Conference of Churches (MACC) was established in 1973 by fourteen area churches, and the organization now functions as the town of Manchester’s primary social services agency. MACC provides food, clothing, shelter and advocacy for the unmet basic needs of people in the community. For more information on MACC, visit www.macc-ct.org.

For more information about project graduation, visit www.projectgraduation.org/about.

The commencement ceremony will be held on Thursday, May 28 at 5:30 p.m. in the Bicentennial Band Shell at Manchester Community College. In the event of rain, two ceremonies will be held inside the SBM Charitable Foundation Auditorium in the AST building; one at 5:30 p.m. and the other at 7:30 p.m. The decision will be made by 11 a.m. on that day.

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