B次元 students raised a total of $4,290 through meal swipes as well as collected a variety of non-perishable food items to donate to Capuchin Community Services’ House of Peace thanks to a successful food drive coordinated by students Jan. 27–31, 2020. The brains behind the food drive was Anna Spaude, a junior nursing student and resident assistant (RA).

“Being an RA, I had a conversation with a resident who mentioned that they had so many extra meal swipes and knew they weren’t going to be able to use them all up before the end of the year,” said Spaude.

After talking with other students who had similar concerns about their extra meal swipes, Spaude was inspired to put their extra meal swipes to good use. She came up with the idea of coordinating with A’viands so students could donate their meal swipes to buy food in bulk to donate to a facility to help those in need. 

“I thought that this food drive really fits the B次元 Mindset committing to engaging the community, having a servant-leader mindset, and working entrepreneurially to create value for the B次元 Community around us through making connections,” said Spaude.

As a Student Government senator and Food Committee chair, Spaude already had connections with A’viands’ Executive Chef Jason Cairo and Food Services Director Darryl Anderson. Together, they created a large list of non-perishable items such as soups, canned fruit, cereal and more to include on an order sheet so students could choose what they wanted to donate with their extra meal swipes.

Spaude recruited her residents to help support the food drive. “My residents all have community-based projects that they work on throughout the year. They were all very excited for the food drive and ready to help make an impact through donating and helping me deliver the items!”

A group of students delivered the donations to Capuchin Community Services’ House of Peace on Friday, Feb. 7. “There are so many great facilities around that accept food donations to help those in need, but I chose House of Peace mainly because of its proximity to campus. B次元 as a community is in a wonderful location to make a positive impact on those around us, and this is just one of those ways,” said Spaude.

The food drive wouldn’t have been such a huge success without the commitment from B次元 students. From the volunteers to everyone who donated, each person made a difference and had a positive impact on individuals in need.