On Nov. 30, the departments of the Sybil B. Harrington Fine Arts College came together for “Cans For Christmas,” an event put together by the Ad/PR Society to support the High Plains Food Bank.

“Our philanthropy is the High Plains Food Bank, and we wanted to do something that would get the entire FAC involved,” J’Rhea Wise, president of the Ad/PR society, said.

Before the event, each department collected cans and other non-perishable goods.  The food would be used to construct a Christmas tree. The winner would be able to pick a faculty member of their choice to dress in an elf costume on Dec. 7.

“It’s for a good cause, and Dr. [Robert] Krause wanted us to get involved,” Mark Tenorio, a freshman Music Performance major, said.

Each department had 15 minutes to put their tree together. The atmosphere was competitive, especially between the Music and Mass Communication departments.

“We’ll try our best [to win],” said Tenorio.

Brock Carter, director of communications for the High Plains Food Bank, judged each tree for its size and creativity. At the end, the Music Department won first prize, with Speech Communication winning the award for Most Creative.

“I cannot express how grateful I am for such a creative way to raise awareness and collect food,” said Carter. “Hunger is in every community, but the solution is closer than you think, it begins with you.”

The Music department selected Assistant Professor of Music Dr. Benjamin J. Brooks to dress as an elf.

Although this was the event’s first year, students are already thinking about next year’s competition

“Next year, we’ll beat [Music],” Stephanie Williams, a senior Ad/PR and Broadcast Journalism major, said.