"A Meaningful Way to Benefit Our Community"

At the start of the New Year, even before classes resumed, students at Edgewood College (with a little help from Dining Services) donated more than $5,000 in food to two local food banks.

In the closing weeks of Fall semester, students with remaining ‘dining dollars’ on their meal plans were able to donate that money to this food drive.  341 bulk packages, including 25 cases of cereal and 40 bags of brown rice, were donated to the Catholic Multicultural Center and the Madison YWCA.  Chartwells, the on-campus dining service provider, donated a number of additional items to fill several cases. 

Senior Psychology major Marissa Blackmore led the effort, coordinating between the food banks, the Office of Dominican Life, and Chartwells. 

“In the past, students with extra food dollars struggled to find a way to spend it all,” Marissa said.

“Oftentimes, this would result in students buying large quantities of items that perhaps they did not really need. I wanted to create a campaign that would allow students to still spend their extra meal dollars, but in a more meaningful way that would benefit our community.”

The students’ work and generosity made a big difference to the lives of many in Greater Madison.

“Since the YWCA does not have the current ability to provide free meals to the families in shelter, this donation makes a huge impact for everyone,” a spokeswoman said. “Thank you for your work to empower families.”

Enjoy more photos from delivering on the students' generosity on Facebook.

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