WASHINGTON, PA (March 1, 2016) — When Washington & Jefferson College (W&J) senior Alyssa Evanoff saw that the Washington City Mission had a great need for food donations, she decided to rally the W&J community to address the need.
Evanoff is an environmental studies and German double major with a minor in gender and women’s studies from Pittsburgh, Pa. A year ago she teamed up with James March, Ph.D., an associate professor of biology at W&J, and the W&J Sustainability Committee to begin the process of securing a W&J chapter of the Food Recovery Network.
The Food Recovery Network is a national organization that enables campuses to send their unused food to homeless shelters. With the help of the organization, Evanoff is able to coordinate student volunteers to help with food deliveries to the City Mission. The deliveries from W&J help to provide three meals a day for many of the 300 or more people City Mission serves each day.
“It’s an eye-opening experience helping with a delivery,” Evanoff said. “Judy Sandy, the kitchen coordinator at the City Mission, said they rely on donations like ours, so it’s a great experience to help.”
While the program is still in the beginning stages, Evanoff is confident that it will continue into the future and would like to see regular deliveries made. Currently, each delivery is about 75-80 pounds of food, and the program’s goal is to reach 1000 pounds of food per delivery.
This coordination with the Food Recovery Network has connected W&J students to the Washington community in many ways.
“The program has two major benefits: Reducing waste and helping to feed those in need in our community,” said Justin Dandoy, Director of Community Engagement at W&J. “We are able to connect our students with the Mission as volunteers through this project.”
Evanoff and many others are excited that this program has taken off. She would like to thank Dr. March and Douglass Dick, executive chef at Parkhurst for W&J, for their help. For more information visit www.foodrecoverynetwork.org or email volunteer@washjeff.edu to get involved.
About Washington & Jefferson College
Washington & Jefferson College, located in Washington, Pa., is a selective liberal arts college founded in 1781. Committed to providing each of its students with the highest-quality undergraduate education available, W&J offers a traditional arts and sciences curriculum emphasizing interdisciplinary study and independent study work. For more information about W&J, visit washjeff.dev, or call 888-W-AND-JAY.
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