The AMS Food Bank held a particularly delicious fundraiser this week in collaboration with FryWay, a food truck restaurant.
On Sept. 12 from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m., students could venture across the street from Botterell Hall to 21 Stuart Street, where the food truck offered fresh, free French fries. The truck is run by Scott Hallman, who closed his on-campus hot dog and sausage stand in 2017.
With the help of community members at the Univerity, the Food Bank raised $1574 during the fundraiser, according to the AMS Instagram.
“One of the things we’re looking to do is integrate this business model in the Queen’s community,” Hallman said in an interview with The Journal.
“We’re looking for Queen’s organizations and clubs like Best Buddies, the AMS Food Bank to collaborate with in order to give back to the community.”
The Journal spoke with AMS Food Bank Head Manager Sierra Gaspari, ArtSci ’23, and Assistant Manager Beny Johal Pascal, ArtSci ’23, to get insight on the initiative. Gaspari and Pascal have been a part of the Food Bank since early 2022.
“FryWay came to us, which was really exciting,” Gaspari said. “They’re doing their grand opening today, so we thought it was an amazing opportunity to collaborate with them and raise donations for the AMS Food Bank.”
FryWay opened on campus on Sept. 2. Gaspari said the Food Bank was partly interested in working with them because they’re a new company on campus.
“They’re helping us tackle food insecurity by providing free fries today, so we thought it was a perfect initiative.”
Gaspari spoke about other initiatives the AMS Food Bank is engaging in, like the Peach Market, a new branch of the Food Bank, tackling food insecurity in a way where there’s less stigma.
“The big event that’s also happening today is the Peach Market, which is right around the corner at the new Med Building. It’s been our major push and new initiative for this year.”
“It’s more of a cafe style serving entrees, soups, coffees, and tea. Customers can pay whatever they can […] We’ve been doing a lot of outreach to increase donations to the Food Bank and we have a smaller budget, especially with grocery prices inflating like crazy.”
Pascal said the Food Bank held limited events during the summer and hope to increase outreach initiatives during the school year. Gaspari spoke about events like food drives and consistent collaboration with the Peach Market.
The Food Bank is currently looking to hire first-year volunteers, Pascal added.
Tags
AMS, Food bank, French fries, Fundraiser, Hot dog
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