Roanoke, Hollins students served community together

Roanoke College and Hollins University celebrated an important anniversary year in a unique way — Their students joined together to serve the community.

In mid-February, 25 Roanoke students and 25 Hollins students gathered at Feeding America Southwest Virginia to sort and package food items for needy families across the region.

This volunteer event was one of the many celebrations planned this year to highlight the 175^th anniversaries of both Roanoke Valley institutions.

The Southwest Virginia operation, which is an affiliate member of Feeding America, a national food bank, gathers large quantities of food and distributes them to a network of 373 partner feeding programs in its region, which includes 26 counties and nine cities.