More than 8 million meals are served every year through MSU’s residence hall system - but MSU’s Department of Police and Public Safety along with hall governments and black caucuses wants more meals served off campus this holiday season.
A campuswide nonperishable food drive will continue through Monday, giving students, staff and faculty a chance to drop off that extra bag of noodles or can of soup to any residence hall.
This is the second year MSU community police officers are sponsoring the drive, which donates food to area families, MSU Safe Place, the MSU Student Food Bank, the Lansing City Rescue Mission and Lansing’s Cristo Rey Community Center, 1717 N. High Street.
“Everyone agreed that it was a great idea,” said MSU police Officer Jamie Gonzales, who works with students in Brody Complex. “The whole idea of community policing is to be a part of your community. We don’t just have ownership of it. We’re part of it.”
Gonzales said this is the first year they’ve collected food across campus - but stacks of vegetables, fruits and rice haven’t piled up yet.
“We haven’t collected that much yet,” Gonzales said. “We hope that it will be successful so we can continue to do it. We’re hoping to collect a lot of food.”
Winter holidays fall during one of the coldest times of the year - and the hungriest time of the year, said Dan Hicks, executive director for the Lansing mission, 607 E. Michigan Ave.
“When the weather gets cold, we start to see a lot of people,” Hicks said. “We had to install additional bunk beds because we had such crowds in here.
“The youngest guest was a 3-day-old baby with her mom. We had to have all the things necessary on hand for families. Everyone has to eat.”
Donations from the area - and from MSU - make up a large portion of the winter feast, Hicks said.
“The Lansing area is a very caring community,” he said. “We could not have existed for the last 90 years if that wasn’t true. You can just see the outpouring of caring.”
Hicks said people staying in the shelter also will benefit from the campuswide coat drive running from Nov. 26 through Dec. 12, also sponsored in part by MSU community police officers.
Last year, more than 300 coats were collected for men, women and children.
“It’s right in line with our department mission,” said MSU police Sgt. Alan Haller, coordinator for the community police officers. “It’s an attempt to get away from traditional policing and soften the image. It will get us closer to students.”
