The Voice

Issue date: 11/15/07 Section: features

Media Credit: Deirdre Miller An assortment of cans collected at Share the Harvest Food Cupboard

As Thanksgiving quickly approaches, members of the Bloomsburg University community are doing their part to help those in need, especially during the holiday season. A variety of volunteers coordinate food drives throughout the year to provide the Bloomsburg Food Cupboard with non-perishable items to feed the 11.5 percent of the population in Columbia County living below the poverty level.
Share the Harvest is a food drive that gives students, faculty and staff an opportunity to donate food for Columbia County residents. Ten boxes are located in all seven residence halls and in the lobbies of the Warren Student Services Center, Centennial Hall and Monty's. These boxes will be set out until after Thanksgiving break and they usually collect a half ton of food for donation.
Boxes don't have to be displayed on campus in order for the community to contribute. The Food Cupboard is located at 329 Center St. in Bloomsburg and everyone is welcome to volunteer on Tuesdays from 12:30 to 2:30 pm and Sundays 9:15 to 10:15 a.m. Sixty percent of the clients are from Bloomsburg, with the remaining 40 percent from nearby communities, including Danville, Millville and Catawissa.
Tim Pelton, who has been an AmericCorps/VISTA volunteer in the SOLVE office for four years, works with the Food Cupboard. According to Pelton, food drives like this help the Food Cupboard immensely. "When people donate food we get things from different places and the recipients have a bigger selection," said Pelton. "People are more likely to eat a balanced diet if they can find foods they like."
Some organizations on campus already volunteer with the collection of food. The Helping Professions Living and Learning Community helped decorate the boxes with a festive Thanksgiving theme for this food drive. The Social Justice and Civic Engagement Living and Learning Communities help with other food drives and students from the Honors Program and individual volunteers often help with the collection of boxes.
Sean Lewis, a junior social work major from Lewistown, is completing a practicum at the SOLVE office this semester. Lewis walks around campus to check the boxes periodically to decide when to collect the food. He enjoys working in the SOLVE Office because it allows him to get involved with food drives and fundraisers. "I come in contact with different kinds of people so I get a sense of what social work is all about," he said.

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