Campus Ministry is hosting its annual Thanksgiving food drive from Oct. 23 to Nov. 30.
Only monetary donations are accepted. According to an email sent to members of the Fordham community by Campus Ministry, donations will “help Fordham’s community partners provide food for struggling families in the New York area.”
Fordham campuses will partner with different locations. Rose Hill donations will go to The Church of Our Lady of Mercy, Part of the Solution and Creston Avenue Baptist Soup Kitchen. Lincoln Center donations will go to the Church of St. Paul the Apostle Soup Kitchen and Xavier Mission. Westchester donations will go to the Carver Center.
Campus Ministry said donations made are not given to the university. “The money is given directly to our partners as they know what their guests need best,” said Gilda Severiano, an administrator of Campus Ministry operations.
All funds will be distributed to the three soup kitchens. “Our partners are churches and groups we were already working with through the Pedro Arrupe Volunteers or established campus relationships like the Carver Center in Westchester,” said Severiano.
Additionally, Campus Ministry said that they encourage students to consider donating guest meal swipes to others in need. “Students with meal plans can donate guest meal swipes to students experiencing hunger on campus,” read the email.
Guest meal swipes are added to meal plans at no cost, and never expire once they are donated. “The gate does not keep food insecurity out of our campus,” said Severiano.
Severiano shared that initially, the drive included donations of non-perishable food and turkeys that were donated to local churches and organizations.
According to Severiano, the switch was made to solely monetary donations so the university’s community partners can “buy fresh fruits and vegetables.”
She said that, in the past, campus groups collected canned foods for Part of the Solution (POTS), a Bronx-based soup kitchen and homeless shelter. “We also found that non-perishable food was often expired or not known culturally by recipients,” Severiano said.
“Every donation is food on someone’s plate so the food drive has been very successful as we usually distribute $5,000 or more each year,” said Severiano.
“During COVID-19 our partners began feeding twice as many people, and with the housing shortage and increases in rent and evictions those numbers have not dropped.”
Students and members of the Fordham community are able to donate to the drive here. Severiano also stated that students wishing to lend a hand can volunteer directly with POTS or the Xavier Mission,
Additionally, there are two PAV Thanksgiving food distributions in Noveber: on Nov. 18 at Amsterdam House by meeting at 9 a.m. at Lincoln Center or on Nov. 21 at Our Lady of Mt. Carmel Church at Rose Hill by meeting at 9:30 a.m. All students are welcome to attend and lend their aid.
