Garden City, N.Y. - In an effort to eclipse last year's total, the Adelphi University Department of Athletics Student-Athlete Advisory Committee collected nearly 1,000 non-perishable items for its annual food drive for Island Harvest.

In total, the department's 23 varsity programs came together to donate 961 items towards hunger relief, ahead of the Thanksgiving holiday.

"In the spirit of giving, it was amazing to see the participation from the teams this year with all the cans and non-perishable items collected for Island Harvest," said Adelphi field hockey student-athlete and SAAC President Jackie Brown. "I am extremely proud that we surpassed our donation totals from last year. Our contribution will help so many people in our local community."

While the department's initial goal of 600 items was realized, the total almost doubled last year's contribution of 553 goods.

"Our Student-Athlete Advisory Committee did a great job giving back to the community this holiday season," said SAAC Advisor Brittany Cullinane. "The student-athletes love working with Island Harvest to help those families in need. We look forward to continuing this great fundraiser next year."

Since being founded in 1992, Island Harvest has become Long Island's largest hunger relief organization. Their volunteers and staff now deliver millions of pounds of good, surplus food to a network of 570 Long Island-based food pantries, soup kitchens and other non-profit organizations that offer feeding services for those in need.