New dining initiative urges food donation

With 400,000 citizens living below the poverty line, Philadelphia is not immune to the pervasive problem of hunger that has struck many urban areas across the country.

Partnering together with Penn Dining Services, the Undergraduate Assembly plans to demonstrate its commitment to battling this social ill with the institution of a Dining Dollars donation program that will help fight hunger in Penn's own backyard.

During a two-week period kicking off April 26, "students [can] use their leftover Dining Dollars to go to a charitable organization rather than just spending it all on superfluous products," said UA member Zack Rosenblum, a College sophomore. Because Dining Dollars do not roll over after the end of the year, many are often left unused after finals.

Rosenblum, who serves as co-chairman of the UA's Student Life Committee, designed the program, which will bring food collection bins and stocks of canned goods to locations where Dining Dollars are typically used, like Houston Hall and the retail area in 1920 Commons.

"Students can actually pick up a can, swipe for it and have the physical action of putting it into the bin," Rosenblum said.

Campus Dining Services Contract and Relationship Manager Laurie Cousart also thought that having students perform the act of donating would be beneficial.

"The more personal a donation is, the more it means," she said.

The collection bins will eventually be transported to the University City Hospitality Coalition and the Greater Philadelphia Food Bank.

The donations are "a way we can reach out to the community and hopefully lend a collective hand through the efforts of the student body," Rosenblum said.

Since this is the first year the program will be run, Cousart did not give an estimate on how much money she expected to be raised, but she did say that Penn Dining would be "adding a contribution as well." Depending on student participation, Penn Dining will either match its donation to the students' collection or provide a percentage of the collected sum.

Further expansion of the program for future years also hinges on student response during the initial trial, according to Dining officials.

"We want to see how well this goes and what the response is from the campus community," Cousart said, adding that in the future, she "would hope we would do things similar to this."

The reaction from students seems to be positive, with many expressing their support of the program.

"I have, like, 180 Dining Dollars" left to use, Engineering freshman Rachel Fried said, adding that she would definitely participate in the program.

Noting that a lot of people "never get rid of all of" their Dining Dollars, Fried said that she thought "a lot of people -- if given the option -- would end up donating them for sure."

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