Spring Break
Full Plate gets ACC folks fed
WILLIAM O'DELL
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According to the 2000 Census, approximately 100,000 people live in ACC, and 26,000 live below the poverty line.
In 1998, Full Plate was able to serve 114,296 meals to 2,016 individuals.
Full Plate has increased its numbers of meals served each year and will try to reach 150,000 meals by the end of this year, said Stacey Favors, Full Plate project manager.
He said while the University is not Full Plate's only donor, it is the largest.
The University donates almost every day from the dining halls while other donors are on-call, like the Classic Center after banquets, Favors said.
The University has been donating to the 16-year-old program for 10 years, which actually has helped keep the amount of surplus food down in the $19 million food services program.
Michael Floyd, University Food Services department head, said his department donates food that has not been served, is more than 48 hours old and has been reheated once.
"If a customer does not eat something on their plate, it is disposed of," Floyd said. "Ketchup packets left on a plate get thrown away."
Floyd said the only way the University is able to donate extra food is through Full Plate, because "we'd have no way of distribution otherwise."
Favors, his drivers and volunteers collect and distribute the surplus food to 11 food distribution sites including the Boys & Girls Club of Athens, Athens Area Homeless Shelter and the Salvation Army among others.
As part of her Full Plate internship duties, Sarah Himmelheber, a graduate student in social work and Full Plate intern, helps Favors deliver food to the Boys & Girls Club.
She said she remembers being crowded by anxious children who could not wait for the chocolate chip cupcakes from the dining halls.
Full Plate is looking for volunteers to help "greatly reduce hunger," Favors said.
