$13K in Dining Dollars Donated

Before they left campus at the end of the spring semester, many students donated their unused Dining Dollars to purchase food for Kent County non-profits. Over the summer, a group of interns and staff delivered hundreds of pounds of food to three local food banks thanks to this generosity.

At the end of every school year, students can use their remaining Dining Dollars to purchase a bulk order of packaged foods to enjoy at home over the summer. But this year, they had a charitable option thanks to Student Government Association (SGA) cabinet members Joseph Atkins ’28 and Kai Follett ’27. 

The pair shared their idea for donating to local food banks with the SGA senate, distributed flyers, and sent emails to students, encouraging them to consider donating their leftover Dining Dollars. When the drive was complete, students had given $13,398.

“I was blown away by the amount of money we raised. The kindness of all the students who donated their Dining Dollars was really amazing,” Atkins said. “It shows the impact that students can have within their communities and that we all have the ability to help those in need in some way.”

Jeremy Schultz, executive chef for the College’s food services vendor, AVI, worked with their regular suppliers to buy several pallets of packaged foods with the donated dollars. Students still on campus in June worked with Laura Chamberlin, CES’ associate director for civic engagement, to sort, organize, and distribute the food.

As a member of the College’s hunger and homelessness committee and volunteer in the Chestertown community, Chamberlin connected with three local non-profits that could use additional resources for the summer: the Kent County Food Pantry, the Millington-Crumpton Food Pantry, and the Blessing Bags Food Pantry in Rock Hall.

“The last year has seen a rapid rise in the overall cost of living, especially basic needs, including food, housing, and utilities. This has meant that the number of people in our community who are in need increases daily,” Chamberlin said. “This donation helps to alleviate some of the pressure on the pantries, which is very important at a time when they are seeing cuts in funding.”  

Deeann Jones, program director of the Kent County Food Pantry, said that the average number of people seeking their help each week has increased by about 35% to 60%, and having donations from the students meant the pantry could use its budget on perishables and other foods.    

—Mark Jolly-Van Bodegraven