Swipes for Granny's Kids puts extra meal points to use
The event provided boxes of snacks to the non-profit organization.
Published March 9, 2009
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Freshman Kevyn Tompkins volunteers outside Plaza 900 dining hall Saturday on behalf of Granny's House, an organization that caters to Columbia's youth in public housing. The Missouri Students Association Multicultural Issues Committee ran the event, which encouraged students to spend their unused meal points on non-perishable food items.
correction appended
When students do not use meal points by the end of the week, those meals can go to waste, unless they are used to help others.
Alex Holley, Missouri Students Association Multicultural Issues Committee chairwoman, figured out a way to use these wasted meals to help out area youth.
The Multicultural Issues Committee blasted music Saturday at the Plaza 900 amphitheater and enlisted the help of students with extra meals for Swipes for Granny's Kids. These students bought non-perishable goods at Emporium, Plaza 900's take-out counter, and donated them to Granny's House, a local non-profit organization that provides a safe environment for Columbia's public housing youth.
"We like to say we're a little oasis, here in the middle of public housing," Granny's House founder and director Pam Ingram said.
Granny's House provides a meal and a safe environment for kids to play, do homework and spend time after school, Ingram said. Like any non-profit organization, the budget is supplied largely through donations, which has become a problem in the economic climate.
Ingram said the biggest donation period is typically around Christmas, but this year, donations were down approximately 30 percent.
The donations, which came in 23 boxes overflowing with snacks for the kids, will last Granny's House several months.
"It was really wonderful for us because they donated all the things that we would normally have to buy," Ingram said.
During winter break, Holley's parents were complaining Holley wasn't using all of her meals, and the money spent on the meal plan was going to waste. By organizing this program, she was able to donate the meals to a local charity and create a very successful community service outlet for the MSA.
"I had no idea that we'd get that much stuff," Holley said. "I think that really speaks to the fact that students want to help out."
Campus and Community Relations Chairman Tim Noce said the level of student involvement was encouraging.
"It shows a really, sort of, grassroots type of movement," Noce said.
Noce gathered information on similar events and helped plan the event, saying community service helps college students.
"It really develops a sense of worth, it shows what you can do for the community as a person," Noce said.
MSA had been looking for a way to get involved with the community and Holley's efforts represent a good first step, Noce said.
"I really think that this is a great start for what MSA and the MU community can do for the city of Columbia," Noce said.
Holley said one of the many positive outcomes of this event was the ease of participation on the students' behalf.
"We needed to provide a way for students to help out members of the community," Holley said. "We wanted to make it easier for students who don't have a car to participate. We wanted to bring the service to the students."
Holley said there are plans to continue this event in the future, and ideally, the committee would like to have a Swipes event once a month.
The March 9, 2009 report “Swipes for Granny's Kids puts extra meal points to use" stated that 18 boxes were delivered to Granny’s House. The event yielded 23 boxes for the organization. The Maneater regrets the error.
