By Gus Pignatello, Staff Writer and Alyson Peabody, News Editor
Swipe Out Hunger could help eliminate food insecurity for college students. Student Body President, Katelyn Seavey, and General Manager of Sodexo, Tadd Stone, are leading the efforts to bring the national program to USM.
Seavey was inspired by a conference in Indianapolis where the CEO of Swipe for Hunger spoke about the initiative. USM’s Campus Kitchen was another program Seavey was pivotal in starting. She says now that the Campus Kitchen is in a stable place, she can work on Swipe Out Hunger.
“Students who feel that they don’t need as many meal swipe dollars can choose to donate one or a portion of their swipe dollars to this fund,” said Seavey.
Eligible students would fill out a basic assessment form to determine need. Students then would either be given a preloaded card with a set number of swipes or swipes could be loaded to their personal card.
“Tadd Stone and I have talked about doing drives for the meal swipe dollars and having Sodexo employees asking students if they would like to donate during the transaction,” said Seavey.
Based on the positive response from students during the Husky Day of Service, Seavey believes that the USM student body will be open to donating husky bucks.
Seavey is working to find a department or office that would house the administrative part of Swipe Out Hunger. Her goal is to have the program running before the end of the spring semester so that it is available to students in the fall.
“I hope that we can abolish hunger at USM and make this university a place where no college student will have to worry about finding their next meal,” said Seavey.