4,500 pounds of peanut butter, 3,800 pounds of jelly, and 4,500 loaves of bread; this is the amount of ingredients required to make history.
On Monday, September 19, 2016, Temple’s Main Campus Program Board (MCPB) hosted a PB&J Day as a part of this year’s Homecoming Week. Over a thousand volunteers filed into the Liacouras Center, grabbed their Homecoming shirts, and made their way to their designated work station filled with the necessary goods. At 6:00 p.m., the timer started. The service-oriented hearts and intense game faces of Temple students were shown as they masterfully created their sandwiches with two goals in mind: to help people in need, and to break the Guinness World Record for the most sandwiches made in one hour.
The number to beat was 39,303 sandwiches. Temple shattered the record by making a total of 49,100 PB&J sandwiches, officially landing a spot in the Guinness Book of World Records. All of the sandwiches made were donated to food banks and shelters across Philadelphia and Camden, NJ. The event was planned by Trina Van, a junior neuroscience major. She is the secretary and community service chair on the MCPB executive board. Van got the original idea from an event held at her middle school. When applying for a position on the executive board, she pitched the idea of PB&J Day and the proposal became a reality.
Van said, “I do know that a lot of students, freshmen especially, are now looking for more community service opportunities given their ability to do something special on campus.”
According to Van, this event required months of extensive planning, including an application process for a Guinness World record judge to attend the event and approve the title if the record is accomplished. Main Campus Program Board was also responsible for gathering sponsors to donate the products and food banks and shelters to take the sandwiches.
About 1,350 people participated in the event, including President Englert, staff, students, and Hooter the Owl.
Rebbeca Reis, a Sophomore Psychology major, said in regards to the event, “I felt really honored to be a part of PB&J Day so I could make sandwiches for people in need.”
Christopher Cassella, a Sophomore neuroscience major, also participated in the event. Cassella said, “It was great how so many people came together for such a great cause while also putting Temple in the World Record Book.”
From breaking records to helping to community, there’s always a reason to be proud to be #TempleMade.