This month, Ohio University will fight hunger with an unlikely tool — cereal.
Culinary Services has teamed up with Kellogg’s Food Away from Home program during the month of January to donate cereal to a local food bank.
For each bowl of Kellogg’s cereal OU students consume during the month of January, another bowl of cereal will be donated to the Southeastern Ohio Regional Food Center. OU will donate up to 40 cases — or an estimated 6,400 servings of cereal.
The initiative begins Monday at Nelson Dining Hall and will be advertised through social media, posters, fliers and pamphlets on tables in dining halls at OU. However, students can contribute to OU’s donation by eating cereal at any dining hall on campus.
Students, administrators, chefs and representatives from Kellogg’s will attend the kickoff event, along with Tony the Tiger.
The project is run by Kellogg’s and is offered to any university, said Carlos Samano, assistant director of auxiliary sales for Culinary Services.
“We like to do anything that we can to support the local economy,” he said. “The food drive was brought up to our attention at the end of last year, and we recently started coordinating details so we could proceed with it.”
Kellogg’s has agreed to distribute cereal to food banks that are part of the Feeding America network. The Southeastern Ohio Regional Food Center is a branch to the network.
“The food bank distributes in a lot of counties,” Samano said. “However, we’re stipulating that our donation is to only be distributed in Athens County.”
Brynn Stalvey, a sophomore studying global studies and war and peace, said she plans to take part in the food drive.
“I think the food drive is an awesome idea and don’t think that a lot of universities help out as much as they should,” Stalvey said. “It is great Ohio University and Kellogg’s teamed up for such a good cause.”
bc822010@ohiou.edu
