Mary Dunn, a coordinator with the Dean of Students Office, smiles as she helps fill bags with her team. Dunn volunteered for two shifts this year. (Meghan Vosbeek/TommieMedia)
Junior Sarah Jensen helps pack bags Wednesday afternoon. Jensen has volunteered for Feed My Starving Children before and loved it. “It’s so hands-on. What we do today gets sent somewhere tomorrow, ” Jensen said. (Meghan Vosbeek/TommieMedia)
Sophomore Catherine Connelly pours ingredients into a bag. “There is no better way than taking time out of your class day and volunteering to help children who need it,” Connelly said. (Meghan Vosbeek/TommieMedia)
St. Thomas students, faculty and community members pack boxes of food for Feed My Starving Children. The three-day event lasts through Thursday. (Meghan Vosbeek/TommieMedia)
Director of Residence Life Aaron Macke pours vegetables and flavoring into an Feed My Starving Children bag. “It (volunteering) is just the right thing to do, it is a great cause,” Macke said. (Meghan Vosbeek/TommieMedia)
First-year Maria Neuzil packs food with her team Wednesday afternoon. “It’s an easy way to volunteer without leaving campus, so I can stay involved in all the clubs I want to be in,” Neuzil said. (Meghan Vosbeek/TommieMedia)
Dean of Students Linda Baughman-Terry packs vegetables for Feed My Starving Children in the Anderson Student Center Wednesday afternoon. “This has been a really fun way to get to know students in a way I wouldn’t normally interact with them,” Baughman-Terry said. (Meghan Vosbeek/TommieMedia)
Communication and journalism professor Carol Bruess seals bags for her team. Bruess said she volunteered in order to make an impact on the world outside of St. Thomas. (Meghan Vosbeek/TommieMedia)
Josh Hengemuhle, Assistant Dean for Orientation and Retention at St. Thomas pours rice and soy into a bag. Hengemuhle said he wasn’t able to volunteer last year, so he was glad he could be there this year. (Meghan Vosbeek/TommieMedia)
Cheers can be heard across the second floor of the Anderson Student Center as students line up along tables and pack boxes of food for Feed My Starving Children. It’s the second day of the three-day event, and Senior Event Supervisor for FMSC Paul Dopkins is impressed by the turnout.
“We’ve had some great participation by some really thoughtful students,” Dopkins said.
Dopkins claims that many of the cheers come from the volunteer workers who are packing bags of food and putting those bags into boxes.
“They cheer whenever they finish a box or need a new ingredient,” Dopkins said.
Each bag contains vitamin powder, dried potatoes and carrots, soy product and rice. Dopkins estimates that during the three-day event, volunteers will make 108,000 meals. This is the second year FMSC had partnered with St. Thomas, and Dopkins looks forward to a third.
Flynn Area Director Erin Whipkey is also looking forward to year three.
“I love it,” Whipkey said. “It’s great for students to see how they can impact the greater good.”
Many students expressed a passion for the volunteer work and for FMSC in general. Junior Britney Ellspermann regularly volunteers for FMSC with her family at its Eagan location.
“I have volunteered with Feed My Starving Children before, so having it come to campus made it really easy to volunteer,” Ellspermann said. “It’s a really good organization with a good mission.”
Sophomore Sarah Schuler worked on the marketing team to plan Tommies Together — the name for the day of service. She said she enjoyed helping raise awareness for this cause.
“It’s a great way to give back to the community. St. Thomas is all about the common good, and this is definitely helping do that,” Schuler said. “I have always had a passion for volunteering and want to go into nonprofit work, so helping out was a no-brainer.”
Sophomore Jake Smith said he loves coming together with fellow Tommies for a good cause.
“Service is really important to me,” Smith said. “A service that does Christian work and was started by a Tommie was really attractive to me.”