Food Truck Round Up brings local community food to Liberty’s campus

• Food Truck Round Up set to take place three times this semester and serves to connect Liberty students with the Lynchburg community.
• Nomad Coffee Co., Momma Crockett’s Cider Donuts, Earl’s Carolina Barbeque, Hibachi Guys and Maylynn’s Creamery are some of the featured food trucks.

Liberty University alumni and Nomad Coffee Co. owner Josh Davies had an idea to begin something new this fall.

With the Thursday Farmer’s Market no longer taking place at Doc’s Diner this year, Davies felt students needed something to fill the gap and keep them connected to the local community and one another the way the weekly markets did.

Partnering with Liberty Dining Services, Davies assembled some local food trucks to host Liberty’s first series of Food Truck Round Ups.

The day of Oct. 12, Nomad Coffee Co., Earl’s Carolina Barbecue, Upper Crust Pizza, Hibachi Guys, Maylynn’s Creamery and Mama Crockett’s Cider Donuts weathered the rain to kickstart the first of three Round Up events.

“We wanted to use this as a pilot to figure out what goes right, what goes wrong, whether we have the right amount of food trucks,” Davies said. “We’d like to offer other things like music and entertainment as well—we might dabble into that with the next few experiments.”

Rain or shine, the food trucks will return to the Doc’s Diner parking lot Oct. 26 from 4-9 p.m. The third and final round up for the semester will take place Nov. 9 at the same time and location.

“There’s more interest in things that happen every other week like that,” Sodexo District Manager Anthony Delligatti said. “It doesn’t become a routine, and that makes it more exciting. We’ll take a break for the winter and plan to start back up in the spring, depending on how these go.”

Those who can’t get enough of the food trucks can find Nomad Coffee Co., Earl’s Carolina Barbecue and Maylynn’s Creamery present at the remaining home football games, too. They accept Flames Cash.

“I used to work at Liberty, so I know sometimes it’s hard to make connections outside of campus,” Davies said. “I kind of know what Liberty desires and expects for events, and I know what I would desire if I was a student again. I want to help out as a middleman to better connect the community to Liberty.”

Nomad Coffee Co., Maylynn’s and Mama Crockett’s will be set up at both upcoming Round Ups. A finalized lineup of all of the vendors, new and returning, will be posted on Nomad Coffee Co.’s Facebook page during the week preceding the next event.

“We try to think of things we can bring to campus that will give students some variety,” Delligatti said.

The Food Truck Round Ups are not limited just to food—artisans and crafters are invited to participate as well. The participation fee for vendors at each Round Up is $30, which is donated to Greater Lynchburg Habitat for Humanity.

“I’m really excited that Liberty is becoming more and more open to supporting local businesses,” Davies said. “There’s value in these partnerships. They give the student body some diverse products that they might not get to experience otherwise.”

Crafty or culinary vendors interested in participating in future events can contact Delligatti’s administrative assistant, Patricia Carwile, at Patricia.Carwile@sodexo.com.