Local Colleges Combat Hunger in New Ways
Colleges and their dining services around Poughkeepsie utilize unique fundraising styles to combat hunger in the Hudson Valley that go beyond donating their leftover food.
The variety of initiatives in place at SUNY New Paltz and Vassar College not just the hungry in the greater community, but also those right on campus.
SUNY New Paltz opened their own food pantry in 2012. The Student Christian Center (SCC), a coalition of Lutheran, Methodist, and Reformed Churches and the center of campus ministry activities for the last forty years, hosts this initiative.
Rev. Dr. Dianna Smith conceived of the idea and executed it with student help. The project started as two shelves of nonperishable food but grew to a much larger size.
Anyone resident or commuter, student or faculty can use this food pantry. The SCC connected with Regional Food Bank of Northeastern New York after six months of operation. This enables the pantry to purchase food items for much less than a dollar per pound.
The pantry is now a member of the College and University Food Bank Association (CUFBA). It is officially a 501c3 organization, exempt from federal income taxes under section 501(c) of federal law.
The pantry’s volunteer efforts are matched by catering company Sodexo’s resources. According to campus executive chef Matthew Hill, Sodexo offers customer surveys twice a year: for every completed survey, they donate a dollar to the pantry. This past semester they raised over $1,400 for the food pantry.
“I have also applied for a grant from Sodexo’s Stop Hunger Foundation two years in a row for the food pantry and got one last year for $1000,” Hill said.
The American branch of Sodexo, a French food services company, announced a “Stop Hunger” initiative in 1996. Three years later their mission came to fruition in a brand-new non-profit organization titled the Stop Hunger Foundation.
Stop Hunger has grown tremendously, staffed by over 37,000 volunteers that served over 3 million meals since in 2019 alone. Sodexo seeks to increase this productivity in 2020 with a meal donation goal of 10 million.
41 countries have gotten involved in Stop Hunger. The nonprofit expects to expand this participation to 80, to cover every country in which Sodexo does business.
Locally, the total goal for volunteers is 200,000. One way in which they engage local volunteers is through grants, which have benefited the SUNY New Paltz Pantry in the past. The New Paltz branch fundraises annually for the organization.
“We are in the process of another fundraiser for the Stop Hunger Foundation called Donate to Decorate. We have dates set were the students, facility and staff come and decorate gingerbread houses [to sell] and then we set up a village to display for the holidays,” Hill said.
They sell the house-making-kits for $10 each, with all proceeds going toward Stop Hunger. Sodexo began distributing supplies Nov 11, and the decorating runs until Nov 21. The houses will be on display starting the first week in December.
Taking advantage of a food surplus, Vassar College’s Dining Service Bon Appetit works with FeedHudsonValley, according to resident district manager Steven Scardina.
10,432 meals were donated through the service in 2018. Organizations like Feeding America and Food Recovery Network provide the guidelines for what Bon Appetit can and cannot donate. Scardina says they try to keep leftover donations minimal by training staff to minimize waste and “batch cook” meals.
FeedHudsonValley is “dedicated to meeting the needs of neighbors while mitigating the impacts of food waste,” according to their website.
This regional networking organization uses cutting-edge technology to maximize donations and efficiently distribute food resources. One such technology, ChowMatch, uses advanced software to connect restaurants, catering services, grocery stores and farms with homeless shelters, food pantries and other organizations combating hunger.
To serve an ever-growing community, food donors like local colleges must continue to adapt and alter their methods of raising awareness and facilitating food collecting. These techniques engage new volunteers and boost morale to achieve the overarching hunger relief goals.
