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Vol. 38, No. 18 |
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12-19-2007 Grass-roots drive nets three tons of foodCampuswide effort helps stave off dire times at Mid-Ohio FoodBank
Salimbene, an assistant dean of the Graduate School, had taken a box of food and supplies to the Mid-Ohio FoodBank in early December and was horrified to see the pantry’s depleted shelves. “I knew they were hurting so I had collected some food here at the Grad School, but then I saw just how desperate they were, and thought we might be able to do something on a little bit bigger scale,” Salimbene said. The results show what a simple, grass-roots effort can produce within the university when the need arises. On Tuesday (Dec. 18)—only seven days after she began sending e-mail solicitations for food and started asking for volunteers to set up collection points at various spots around campus—two transportation services trucks rolled to the west side foodbank with almost three tons of food from the drive. “It says an awful lot about the people who work at Ohio State and their willingness to step up,” said Matt Habash, the foodbank’s executive director. “I think that was an awesome effort, particularly given the short time period.” Along with the 5,989 pounds of food, the drive also collected more than $1,750 in cash and checks, and at least 15 grocery store gift cards. Salimbene said it was likely the food bank would find more monetary donations once all the boxes were unloaded and catalogued. “People were so generous; we were stunned every time we pulled up to another collection point to see just how much food had been donated,” Salimbene said. “During the week, I kept thinking to myself, ‘What was I thinking?’ Because I just didn’t know how it would go,” she said. “But when you give people the opportunity to be generous, I find that they almost always exceed your expectations.” The effort almost hit a snag late in the week as it became apparent there was going to be a significant volume of food that would need to be transported to the foodbank. The drive collected food and money at 15 spots, including still-bustling-despite-holiday-break locales such as University Hall, Bricker Hall, Gateway and Lincoln Tower. “Right about as it hit me that we weren’t going to be able to just load up our cars and take it all down there by ourselves, I got an e-mail from Helen DeSantis (assistant vice president for business and finance) telling me that a truck had been arranged and would be there to make the entire round,” Salimbene said. “The spirit of giving just seemed to be contagious. It was like that everywhere I went. People wanted to help.” Habash said the donations, of course, will be put to good use. “Our demand has gone up so fast. With the price of gas, the price of food, the mortgage crisis, there are a lot of people suffering out there,” he said. “But at the same time, donations are down. The situation’s the worst I’ve seen in 26 years.” “So the outpouring that’s been happening has been tremendous, but at the same time, the need is still very great.”
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