The Food Bank for Larimer County sent 273,000 pounds of food to campus pantries in a year, and CSU’s 40-year-old can drive collects Wednesday at the Oval

The Food Bank for Larimer County distributed 273,000 pounds of food to pantries at Colorado State University and Front Range Community College in the last year. CSU’s C.A.N.S. Around the Oval drive, a 40-year tradition, holds its collection day Wednesday, Oct. 14.

jessicahollandbiz

· Published

October 13, 2026

· Updated

College students are easy to picture as fine: young, busy, on a meal plan. The Food Bank for Larimer County’s numbers say otherwise. In an October 2026 update, the food bank reports that it distributed 273,000 pounds of food to Colorado State University and Front Range Community College in the last year, stocking the food pantries on both campuses.

The pantries are busy. CSU’s Rams Against Hunger pantry logged more than 15,000 visits during the last school year, the food bank says, and Front Range Community College’s pantry, called Wolves Overcoming Lack of Food, provided resources to 2,600 people. The food bank also brings mobile markets, pop-up free food distributions, onto campus. It cites a RAND Corporation report finding that nearly one in four Colorado students struggles with food insecurity.

Wednesday: C.A.N.S. Around the Oval

One of the main ways Fort Collins restocks those shelves happens this week. C.A.N.S. Around the Oval, which CSU describes as a 40-year-old tradition, runs from mid-September to mid-October, and its Collection Day is Wednesday, Oct. 14, 2026, at the Oval on campus. Community and campus teams deliver food donations to the Oval between 9 a.m. and 2 p.m., and online gifts are accepted until 5 p.m. that day.

The drive benefits the Food Bank for Larimer County, which serves the whole county, and the Rams Against Hunger pantry on campus.

By the numbers

273,000 pounds: food the food bank sent to CSU and Front Range Community College in the last year
More than 15,000: visits to CSU’s Rams Against Hunger pantry last school year
2,600: people served by Front Range Community College’s pantry
$50,000 and 20,000 pounds: this year’s goals for C.A.N.S. Around the Oval
$63,991.52 and 22,897.51 pounds: what the drive raised in fall 2025

How to help

Bring shelf-stable food to the Oval on Wednesday between 9 a.m. and 2 p.m., or give online through the link on CSU’s C.A.N.S. Around the Oval page before 5 p.m.

More like this: Find the Good, Fort Collins, CSU students grow 20,000 pounds of vegetables a year for the campus pantry, Food pantry restocking day in Loveland, Open Streets on Laurel Street (Oct. 18)

Sources: Food Bank for Larimer County, “How the Food Bank fights campus hunger” and Colorado State University, C.A.N.S. Around the Oval. Verified Oct. 13, 2026.

Details verified with the source on October 13, 2026. See something wrong? Send a correction.

Jessica Holland

FOUNDER + EDITOR, COLORADO LOCAL

Jessica Holland is a Colorado mom, entrepreneur, marketer and founder of Colorado Local. After years of constantly searching for things to do with her family, local businesses worth supporting, educational experiences for her girls, worship nights, community events and simply more GOOD news, she realized the resource she wanted didn’t really exist in one place. So she built it.

Jessica is also the founder of Holland Health Marketing, where she helps businesses grow through digital marketing, local visibility and community connection.

Her Christian faith is a big part of who she is and the way she sees the world. Colorado Local isn’t a faith-only publication, but you’ll absolutely find faith here, alongside stories about neighbors helping neighbors, churches serving their communities and people using what they have to make Colorado a little brighter.

She lives in Northern Colorado with her husband, two daughters and their very large Newfoundland, Mugsy.

Her mission for Colorado Local is pretty simple: help people get out, connect, support local and find more of the good happening right in front of us.