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GVSU “Bag Off” Competition

In the Spirit of Brown Bag Decorating, we bring you this incredible story of selfless competition, benefiting kids in our community!

Associate Professor Jacquelynn Doyon-Martin, Ph.D. explains how it all began: “The College of Education (CoE) at GVSU first invited us to join in the bag decorating in the Fall of 2016, led by THEIR amazing fearless leader, Erica Hamilton. Erica started the Kids’ Food Basket bag decoration drive in the fall of 2014 as a first year GVSU faculty member. Since then, she and COE colleagues, Lisa Rene Norris and Tom Owens (now retired) have been instrumental in raising money for and collecting Kids’ Food Basket bags. FUN FACT: Since starting this competition, three years ago, more than 18,000 bags have been decorated, collected, and donated to Kids’ Food Basket!

Then, the CoE officially challenged the College of Community and Public Service (CCPS) to a “bag off” in the Fall of 2017. The competition usually lasts the first month of classes, ending at the end of September. All faculty, staff and students are invited to participate. The college that decorates the most bags gets the infamous *Pig Trophy* and bragging rights for the next year.”

Associate Professor Erica Hamilton, Ph.D. says, “The CoE has been decorating bags since the fall of 2014, and this is the 3rd year that the CCPS and the CoE challenged one another – last year we collected more than 6,000 between the two colleges!  For the record, the CCPS won in 2017 and the CoE won in 2018, so this year was the tie breaker.”  This year CCPS won, collecting well over 6,000 bags. The COE came in 2nd with more than 2,000 bags.   CONGRATULATIONS TO THE COLLEGE OF COMMUNITY AND PUBLIC SERVICE! Thanks to everyone who decorated bags – we are so grateful for you!