By Alex Moore
Toward the end of every semester without fail comes the biannual crisis: either, “Oh, no! I am going to have to live on $1.50 a day for the next three weeks!” or, “Oh, no! I have so much extra money on my meal plan-I cannot possibly buy enough $4.10 Café on the Quad Iced Macchiato’s to spend all of this money!” If you happen to sympathize with the latter situation or know someone who does, please read on.
Last year, I had a substantial amount of money left unspent on my voluntary meal plan, and rather than treat myself and my entire floor to daily mocha frappuccinos for the last month of classes, something told me that there were better ways to spend it.
I discovered a local cause and worked with Lackmann Catering Services to have 300 dollars worth of food donated to the local Hempstead Interfaith Nutrition Network, a soup kitchen that serves the hungry and homeless on Long Island, with the leftover money on my meal plan.
This year, I have had the pleasure of meeting another group who provides food once weekly for Hempstead’s poor. Food Not Bombs is a grassroots organization dedicated to non-violent social change that shares free vegetarian food with hungry people. Vegetarian foods are chosen in particular because they use fewer resources, such as water, to produce than animal products use.
Every Sunday, local Food Not Bombs volunteers hand out food in front of the Hempstead train station, accepting food from local donors or making it themselves and serving it to whoever comes until it is gone.
After already having gone through this process once with me and figuring out the nuts and bolts, Lackmann has become very receptive and willing to work with other students. In fact, Lackmann Catering Services has graciously offered to sell us the food at cost and match 50 percent of all donations. This is a great opportunity for University students and Lackmann to work together and to forge a bond with the University’s surrounding community.
Students interested in participating in this program can walk into the Lackmann Catering Services office and ask for some of their meal plan to be used to purchase food for those in need. Menus have already been discussed, so you only need to decide how much you would like to purchase and sign up.
Lackmann is also allowing us to pool money, making it possible for those without enough money for a full tray to partake in the giving process. Students can donate as little as 10 dollars. In addition, even though we purchase the food now, Lackmann will spread the food out on Sundays during the summer to have the most useful impact where it is needed here in Hempstead.
If you are interested in finding out more, you can look at www.foodnotbombs.net or contact Alex Moore at [email protected]. You can also show up on any Sunday at 1:30 p.m. in front of the Hempstead train station if you would like to donate an extra set of hands to the volunteers of Food Not Bombs.
I am not advocating that any student goes hungry, but if your meal points are about to reach the “use them or lose them” level, it could go a long way to take the opportunity to provide a nutritious meal for our local community in need.