Storage BoxA storage box will collect employee donations to student food banks.

Box to collect faculty and staff food donations

A project of Food Services hopes to enlist UWindsor employees in realizing food security for the University’s students.

Executive chef Paolo Vasapolli has arranged for a large storage container placed on Turtle Island Walk to collect donations of canned goods and other non-perishable foodstuffs from faculty and staff.

“My vision is that everyone will bring one item each week,” he says. “If only half of the employees participate, that’s more than 1,000 items a week, enough to restock the pantry shelves before the Christmas holiday.”

Vasapolli intends to staff the box, located in the River Commons, for an hour every Thursday at 4 p.m. beginning Nov. 22. An adjacent bin will receive items the rest of the time.

He credits alumnus Mark Bertoia of the Storage Box for donating the container, facilities staff for setting it up, and the University Print Shop for creating appropriate signage.

“We’ll bring all the contributions to the food banks run by the student alliance and Iona College,” says Vasapolli. “All we’re asking is for people to help us meet the demand that we’re seeing from our students in need.”