Feeding the hungry

Students are encouraged to donate to food drives this Thanksgiving season

The annual Liberty University Thanksgiving Food Drive is underway as students, faculty and staff work to reach this year’s goal of donating more than 4,000 pounds of food by Nov. 18.

Cans — Students were asked to donate nonperishable foods to help feed the hungry. Photo credit: Leah Seavers

Cans — Students were asked to donate nonperishable foods to help feed the hungry. Photo credit: Leah Seavers

The food drive is hosted each year through a partnership between the Center for Christian/Community Service and Sodexo, with all donations going toward the Blue Ridge Area Food Bank.

Darren Wu, Christian/Community Service coordinator, is in charge of this year’s food drive and described how important it is for the Liberty community to participate, as it meets the needs of those in the surrounding area in “a very personal way.”

“(Thanksgiving) is a family celebration, and a lot of times it revolves around a huge Thanksgiving meal,” Wu said. “Most of us are in the demographic where we take part in a huge Thanksgiving feast. It demonstrates the blessings that we have, and it’s important that we be very mindful during this time of year of those that don’t have very much.”

Wu said this is the third year Sodexo will be matching the donations made by Liberty students and faculty. Last year, Sodexo exceeded the 3,200 pound donation from Liberty students and faculty by donating 3,300 pounds for a total of more than 6,500 pounds of food.

Casey Guise, marketing manager for Liberty Dining by Sodexo, described Sodexo’s outreach programs to fight hunger, stemming from the idea that “we take hunger personally.”

“Sodexo is always working hard to end hunger,” Guise said. “Because we are in the food service industry, we have a responsibility to make concerted efforts to end hunger and to set an example to others and to inspire others to fight hunger. We work as a company, but then we are also encouraging students to take hunger personally and to consider the millions of people in the country who suffer from not knowing exactly when their next meal is going to be.”

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Guise described Sodexo’s commitment to fighting hunger year-round by reducing food waste and through benefits such as the New York City showcase that took place last year.

“Throughout the year we make donations a couple of times a week from the dining hall and from Doc’s (Diner) of prepared but unserved food because food waste, of course, is such a huge issue as well, and we are always working to reduce food waste,” Guise said. “We donate food to Lynchburg Daily Bread, and they’re able to use that to serve, and they serve a meal to anyone who comes to their door.”

The four main donation sites for this year’s food drive are at the Center for Christian/Community Service Office in Green Hall, the Reber-Thomas Dining Hall, Snowflex and Old Thomas Road Baptist Church. Sodexo encouraged students and faculty to get involved by setting up their own drop-off stations around campus.

“Our brand new piece for this food drive is the poster that we provide to the campus for students, departments, faculty and staff,” Guise said. “They can print it right at their desk or right in their dorm room and with any old cardboard box just set up a pop-up food donation site so that people can donate there, and then those donations can be taken to Reber-Thomas Dining Hall.”

Even the smallest donations are appreciated as a single can is doubled through the Sodexo match.

“Every little bit helps, truly, even a modest, small collection bin,” Guise said. “If it gets someone a meal that wouldn’t ordinarily have one then they’ve made a difference, and that is what it’s all about.”

Lapp is a news reporter.

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