Sodexo, university unite for Second Harvest

In addition to feeding Gonzaga students and faculty, Sodexo is expanding its reach to aid the Spokane community with its food drive campaign.

Each year, Sodexo raises money and collects food to donate to Spokane's Second Harvest Inland Northwest. Last year, it was able to gather more than 11,000 pounds of food to donate before Thanksgiving.

According to Sarah Clifford, Sodexo's marketing specialist at Gonzaga, this is roughly equivalent to $11,000.

Last year, students donated money and Sodexo used the money to buy non-perishable food items, which would be donated to Second Harvest.

This year, Sodexo is taking a larger initiative with Second Harvest throughout the year.

"We have been tasked with a larger campaign this year to help rebuild the Second Harvest facility," Clifford said.

Melissa Cloninger, the director of community and corporate relations at Second Harvest, is very thankful for Sodexo and Gonzaga's involvement.

"Any partnership that supports the vulnerable in the community is a good thing," Cloninger said.

According to Cloninger, one in every six people in Spokane County is at risk of hunger. While Second Harvest uses its best efforts to get food to all of these people, the facility can't always handle the large quantities, especially the fresh food that makes up 60 percent of the food they distribute.

Sodexo hopes to raise almost $150,000 to help Second Harvest accommodate these large amounts of food. Much of this campaign comes from Sodexo itself, but during the two weeks leading up to Thanksgiving, it is reaching out to the Gonzaga community for help.

Because of this larger initiative, Sodexo is asking for mainly cash donations instead of food this year to reach its goal of $15,000 in 10 days. According to Clifford, $7,000 has already been raised.

"Second Harvest is trying to get enough money for a new conveyor belt to make the bagging and sorting of food faster and easier," Clifford said.

This event also lines up with Tom's Turkey Drive, which raises money around Thanksgiving, also benefiting Second Harvest, to provide locals with a holiday meal. Clifford said she hopes to be able to present a check with the target goal of money raised at the first Tom's Turkey delivery on Friday, Nov. 18.

"The goal is to present a big check to the turkey drive and say this is what Gonzaga is donating to this great cause," Clifford said.

To do this, Sodexo has set up donation points around campus for students, staff and faculty. There are a few perks for donating. During the first week of donations, anyone who donated had the chance to win a pair of tickets to the Gonzaga vs. WSU basketball game. And for those who donate this week, one person will have the chance to win a pair of tickets to the Gonzaga vs. Western Michigan basketball game at the Spokane Arena. Sodexo has also been trying to involve RHA and the students living on campus by starting a competition between dorms.

When a student donates to Sodexo, they write down which dorm they live in. At the end of the 10 days, the dorm with the most donations will receive a party after hours in the COG, complete with a movie on the big screen and refreshments.

Donation points are set up around campus at places like Crosby Café, the COG, Duff's, Jazzman's and Tilford. Students can donate dining dollars, Bulldog Bucks, or block meals.

Sodexo is also involved more directly with Second Harvest.

"Our staff will go down to Second Harvest and actually put together bags for the families and help with things like packing potatoes," Clifford said.

Sodexo will also take any interested students to Second Harvest to join in this effort. Any students who are interested should come talk to Sodexo about the opportunity to volunteer.

In addition to these volunteer hours, Sodexo also puts on a Thanksgiving dinner.

"Each year, we host this big dinner in Cataldo for about 600 homeless people in Spokane who really just don't have anywhere else to go for a warm meal and it's free so we just do it to help the community," Clifford said.