Food frenzy
COMSTOCK PARK — Marie Gregg believes most students don’t want to pick up trash in parks if they have to do volunteer work.
But the Williamston freshman still wanted to find a fun alternative way for students to get involved.
So on Saturday morning, Gregg rounded up 42 other students at Calkins Hall into three vans and headed toward Grand Rapids to volunteer at the Second Harvest Gleaners Food Bank of West Michigan.
“It’s important to go out and have fun doing something for others,” Gregg said. “Students had fun volunteering at the food bank.”
Students sorted and stocked foods, labeled cans, made gift boxes and packaged croutons, moving about 25,000 pounds of product in four hours.
It is the second year Gregg and a group of students have volunteered at the food bank.
She said the work was exhausting but worthwhile.
“Some people said it was too much work,” Gregg said. “But it’s worth so much to the people in need of this food.”
For every hour of work, each volunteer moved $300 worth of items, she said, which really makes a difference for the non-government funded corporation.
“If we wouldn’t have come and worked for just this four hours, they couldn’t have gotten it done,” Gregg said. “The food bank gets so much food and doesn’t have enough employees, so they need our help. The work really inspired a lot of students.”
Farmington sophomore Richard Hinger said families need the food.
“Just knowing how far each pound of food can go and how much just volunteering can help, it’s just awesome,” Hinger said. “This project helps so many people. It’s wonderful.”
John Arnold, executive director of West Michigan Gleaners, said four billion pounds of food is wasted in Michigan landfills each year.
“We carry three million pounds of food and at the snap of a finger could bring in double that,” Arnold said. “It’s about getting it out to different agencies and feeding the needy. I can get food faster than agencies could possibly take it.”
Arnold said he serves 1,200 agencies across western Michigan.
About 4,000 volunteers aid the bank every year, he said, spending nearly 17,000 hours helping to make food available.
“We could not afford to do what we do without their help,” Arnold said. “I feel very grateful to have such an incredible high-energy group like CMU’s here. Their help will liberate tons of food for distribution.”
Saginaw freshman Devin Delgado said she just started getting involved in community service this semester.
“I get satisfaction from helping others,” Delgado said. “It just feels good. I think it’s great to get out and volunteer.
