In an effort to collect donations for the Mid-Maine Homeless Shelter, the College's student-run radio station, WMHB, held a free dinner and organized a canned food drive on Thursday, March 5.

The dinner was held at the REM (Revitalize the Energy in Maine) center in downtown Waterville. REM is a volunteer network that works to try to improve life in the local community. WMHB is closely affiliated with REM, which serves as a partner organization.

The canned food drive to benefit the homeless shelter is a long-standing WMHB tradition. For years, the station simply encouraged people to come to the studio on the day of the food drive to drop off their donations.

That all changed when last year's station president, Adam Lowenstein '09, decided that the event could be improved if it were coupled with a free dinner. Last year's event was so successful that the station again decided to hold both the free dinner and the canned food drive.

"Providing a free dinner is our thank you to the community for their donations," current station president, Kathleen Fallon '10, said.

The dinner was a combination of donated items from local restaurants and dishes prepared by Colby students. Fallon said that the staff of WMHB worked together in order to make the food needed for the dinner. "We turned into a little mini-catering group," she commented.

Students not only prepared the food for the meal, but also provided entertainment to the community members in attendance. Colby's a cappella groups, the Sirens, the Blue Lights and the Megalomaniacs, all sang at the event.

Local businesses also played a large role in the event, donating gift certificates, which were used as prizes for a raffle that was held during the dinner. The raffle raised $70, which all went directly to the homeless shelter.

The turnout at the dinner was slightly lower than last year's event, but about forty members of the community came out for the meal. Cans were also dropped off at the site throughout the day by people who didn't attend the dinner.

The event was a great success, with WMHB collecting about 15 boxes of canned goods to donate to the homeless shelter by the end of the night. The station also donated all of the leftover food from the meal, ensuring that nothing went to waste. Fallon was pleased with the turnout at the event. "It's a great way to see the community come together," she said.