The annual canned food drive competition between Emporia State and Washburn University kicked off Monday, Sept. 15.

This year, however, the goods collected will be given back to ESU students in a new initiative.

“The overarching goal is obviously to help the community, and especially this year it’s important to us because all of the canned food goods are coming back here on campus to help students with our new initiative Corky’s Cupboard,” said Tyler Huddleston, junior Spanish and communication major and president of the Associated Student Government.

The competition to collect canned goods will continue until Oct. 31. Corky’s Cupboard is a joint effort between the Center for Student Involvement and the Student Wellness Center.

The Student Wellness Center brought it to the attention of ASG that students “have to choose between food and medicine,” said Mary McDaniel, director of health services.

Together, they began research for Corky’s Cupboard, delving into the food laws and making discoveries, such as the inability to accept cans with dents and having to keep goods six inches off the ground.

“We researched other college campuses that have something similar, like what they do and what works for them,” said Alex Hull, Community Hornets coordinator.

Last year, between the Emporia community and the ESU campus, Can the Bods brought in about 60,000 canned food items, making ESU the winner for the second year in a row. Whatever donations are collected this year will go into the cupboard.

“Corky’s Cupboard will be open to any student with a student ID, so what you’ll do is you can go in there and swipe your student ID and you can go twice a week, and there’s point systems for different items,” Huddleston said. “There’ll be information about nutritional values and what kind of meals you can make with different items in the pantry but it is open to any student who feels that they need to use it.”

For those concerned about student privacy, Corky’s Cupboard will be located in the Memorial Union, near the back of the CSI, where it can be accessed by a back door.

“This is kind of a hub on campus, so it’s not weird to be in the Union but it’s kind of setback so that students wouldn’t be turned away by it being ‘out there,’” Huddleston said.

Hours for the cupboard will be posted in front of the CSI. Canned goods can be brought CSI at any time, or can be placed in cardboard boxes labeled ‘Can the Bods’ around on campus.