Surplus university food goes to good cause – local charities

In those halcyon days long ago when Ohio University students still hadn’t left for spring break, and the coronavirus seemed like a vague and distant threat, the university had tons of food waiting for the 6,900 returning spring breakers holding meal plans.

Two weeks later, with in-person classes canceled for the balance of spring semester and the dorms and dining halls virtually empty, all those meal plans became meaningless abstractions. That left OU with a lot of food on its hands, much of it perishable if it didn’t get used soon.

Fortunately, a local group, Athens Food Rescue, with its around 20 community volunteers, has been happy to take some of that food off the university’s hands, and pass it along to several food pantries and other needy charities in the area. They’ve been accepting surplus food since approaching OU in 2016.

Earlier this week, volunteers for AFR kept busy picking up the surplus food at various campus sites and delivering it to the Bishopville food pantry near Burr Oak, Friends and Neighbors food pantry near Coolville, Good Works in Athens, and the Nelsonville Food Cupboard, according to Teresa Curtiss, executive director of the Athens Food Rescue nonprofit.

Just on Wednesday, she said, volunteers were scheduled to pick up surplus food from Nelson dining hall and market, Shively dining hall, Jefferson market and West 82 at Baker Center. Pickups have been taking place since last week.

On Tuesday, this reporter watched a transfer of food – including a lot of milk – from Baker Center to AFR volunteer Fred Kight’s SUV.

And last Friday, a volunteer transported around 800 pounds of food from the university to the Nelsonville Food Cupboard.

Curtiss explained that picking up surplus food from OU is nothing new – in March 2016 the group began picking up food from Nelson Dining Hall on South Green, and ever since has been picking up “from all three dining halls, a couple cafes, and the markets during the breaks.”

Athensnews.com

Photo: Terry Smith