Spring Break
In Peace Dale, URI Greek community lends a hand
Tyler Will
Issue date: 12/3/08 Section: News
"We wanted to honor President Carothers for all he has done for the URI community as well as the Greek Community," Bowers said in an e-mail.
The center buys canned food from a food bank at 10 cents per pound, Wright said. The most expensive - and perishable - food is milk and eggs, but those are usually taken quickly.
Jonnycake Center employee Robin Freeman said without continued donations, the center would run out of food in about a week.
The pantry was a recent addition to the Jonnycake Center. Wright said the center "outgrew" its original post, which is right on the Route 108 traffic circle. The new pantry is behind the main building because providing food to the needy is a growing business, Wright said.
"It's not really a good thing," she said.
Because of the difficult economic times, the $12,000 is well appreciated, but inflation has lowered the impact of the money. The prices of some of the goods at the center have risen about 30 percent, Wright said.
Bowers said the Jonnycake Center was chosen before Philanthropy week started.
"I wanted to have it chosen beforehand so we could tell everyone during the week exactly who all of our hard work was benefiting," Bowers said.
To raise the money, the Greek community held a basketball tournament, a karaoke competition, a "Penny Wars" competition, a Salvation Army date auction and a mock-edition of the television game show, "The Price is Right."
Bowers said the community service is part of a "core" in every fraternity and sorority.
"Greek life has always been on the forefront of community service and philanthropy, and as our programming improves, as our leaders improve, and as our resources expand, we have the increasing ability to have a bigger impact and affect more people in the world around us," Bowers said.
The center also has 64 middle and high school volunteers, Wright said. It has occasionally received donations from URI students, and provides food to some URI graduate students who aren't working.
At the end of each academic year, Wright said the university dorms donate any clothing or leftover food items found in the residence halls.
"We'll end up with a lot of ramen noodles and hot chocolate," she said.
When a person enters the food pantry, they are not required to take a specific kind of food, which is called "client select," Wright said.
"We don't want anybody to take food they're not going to use," she said.
Larger families are allowed to take more food than smaller ones, and the allocations are determined by the food pyramid and estimates of how much food a family eats in one week, Wright said.
The center is open to receive donations Tuesday through Friday at 9 a.m. until noon, and on Saturdays from 10 a.m. until noon, or until the intake center fills up.
The center buys canned food from a food bank at 10 cents per pound, Wright said. The most expensive - and perishable - food is milk and eggs, but those are usually taken quickly.
Jonnycake Center employee Robin Freeman said without continued donations, the center would run out of food in about a week.
The pantry was a recent addition to the Jonnycake Center. Wright said the center "outgrew" its original post, which is right on the Route 108 traffic circle. The new pantry is behind the main building because providing food to the needy is a growing business, Wright said.
"It's not really a good thing," she said.
Because of the difficult economic times, the $12,000 is well appreciated, but inflation has lowered the impact of the money. The prices of some of the goods at the center have risen about 30 percent, Wright said.
Bowers said the Jonnycake Center was chosen before Philanthropy week started.
"I wanted to have it chosen beforehand so we could tell everyone during the week exactly who all of our hard work was benefiting," Bowers said.
To raise the money, the Greek community held a basketball tournament, a karaoke competition, a "Penny Wars" competition, a Salvation Army date auction and a mock-edition of the television game show, "The Price is Right."
Bowers said the community service is part of a "core" in every fraternity and sorority.
"Greek life has always been on the forefront of community service and philanthropy, and as our programming improves, as our leaders improve, and as our resources expand, we have the increasing ability to have a bigger impact and affect more people in the world around us," Bowers said.
The center also has 64 middle and high school volunteers, Wright said. It has occasionally received donations from URI students, and provides food to some URI graduate students who aren't working.
At the end of each academic year, Wright said the university dorms donate any clothing or leftover food items found in the residence halls.
"We'll end up with a lot of ramen noodles and hot chocolate," she said.
When a person enters the food pantry, they are not required to take a specific kind of food, which is called "client select," Wright said.
"We don't want anybody to take food they're not going to use," she said.
Larger families are allowed to take more food than smaller ones, and the allocations are determined by the food pyramid and estimates of how much food a family eats in one week, Wright said.
The center is open to receive donations Tuesday through Friday at 9 a.m. until noon, and on Saturdays from 10 a.m. until noon, or until the intake center fills up.
