These donations are part of the annual CEE holiday food drive, a competition between students and faculty/staff to see which group will donate the most. The reward for the winning group is the Pork and Beans trophy. Students have won the competition nine times and faculty/staff have won eight times.
The food is donated to Food Gatherers, a food bank program serving Washtenaw County, Michigan.  All donations need to be non-perishable items, not bottled water, not in glass and not beyond any posted expiration date.

The recommended donations are: low-sodium hearty soups, low-sodium canned fish or meat, low-sodium canned vegetables, canned or packaged pasta, beans, rice, cereal or granola bars, nut butters or jelly, baby food or formula, Ensure or other nutritional supplement drinks.