A Newsletter for UMW Faculty and Staff
Food is maybe the only universal thing that really has the power to bring everyone together.
Food and togetherness were definitely the themes Wednesday evening when Dining at the UC featured its annual holiday meal with all the trimmings. Faculty, staff, and administrators donned aprons and chef’s hats to dish out scalloped potatoes, beef, yams, ham, corn pudding, and all the other special treats on the festive menu.
The annual event, which began in 2011, focuses on physical, mental, emotional and spiritual health.
The fair will feature exhibits, health screenings, free samples and door prizes from local health care businesses, including health care professionals, massage therapists, counselors, spas, dance classes and food and beverage companies.
The event, which is free and open to the public, takes place from 4:30 to 7 p.m. in Seacobeck Hall. Table space for exhibits is available on a first-come, first-served basis. An all-you-can-eat dinner buffet will be offered for $11.15 plus tax.
Rose Benedict, UMW Dining’s marketing coordinator, says that the health and wellness fair provides necessary healthcare options for the UMW student body and the Fredericksburg community.
“Students know they can go to the UMW Health Center for acute health issues, but they don’t have ready information about local healthcare providers if they need care for chronic conditions,” said Benedict, who has organized the fair since its first year. Although the health fair began as a student-centered event, it has become a popular community happening.
To sign up for table space, complete the registration form on the campus dining website, umwdining.com, by March 15. For additional information about the event, contact UMW Dining Services Marketing Coordinator Rose Benedict at (540) 654-2169.
UMW Dining Services, Sodexo, has sponsored the STOP Hunger Food drive every November since 2005. As part of Sodexo’s Better Tomorrow commitments, the Stop Hunger program mobilizes Sodexo’s employees, consumers, clients and suppliers to join forces to end hunger.
As part of the food drive, UMW’s Department of Athletics collected 3,242 pounds, a new record for the department. The softball team alone contributed over 1,100 pounds, the largest contribution from any UMW organization this year.
UMW Athletics has been a partner sponsor since 2008 and also participates in a conference-wide food collection competition to see which university’s student-athletes can collect the most pounds of food in a one week time period.
Collection bins were placed in all campus dining facilities, the Simpson Library and the UMW Bookstore. The bookstore supported the drive by giving discounts to customers who make food donations in the store. UMW Dining Services also sold discounted canned food items during the drive, and coordinated a curb-side collection outside Seacobeck Hall. Student-athletes solicited donations at local food stores and from neighborhood residents, in addition to weighing the donations and loading them into trucks for transportation to the food bank.
UMW is one of 11 locations in the Washington, D.C. metro area in the program, including Marymount University and George Mason University. Each of the participating corporate, university and public institutions obtained MSC Chain of Custody certification, a comprehensive traceability program that assures customers the seafood can be traced back through the supply chain to the fishery.
“We have a unique opportunity to leverage the scale of our supply chain in an approach to seafood procurement that benefits consumers and communities alike,” said Deborah Hecker, vice president for sustainability and corporate social responsibility at Sodexo. “The future of wild caught seafood depends on recognizing and rewarding sustainable fishing practices. This program helps our clients and consumers do that.”
Eagle Dining by Sodexo, a Virginia Green certified business, has served UMW for more than a decade. It received The Marstel-Day and Stafford Printing Green Frontier Award in 2013 for excellence in green business practices.
Sodexo, Inc., provides a full spectrum of quality of life service in the U.S., Canada and Mexico. Headquartered in Gaithersburg, Md., Sodexo, Inc., also funds all administrative costs for the Sodexo Foundation, an independent charitable organization that has made more than $17 million in grants to fight hunger in America.
Eagle Dining, which is managed by Sodexo, has undertaken many sustainability initiatives, including purchasing locally sourced seafood and produce, reducing the use of paper goods and creating a “Go Green” meal plan. Every “Go Green” meal plan purchased by students donates $5 to a sustainability grant fund. UMW students can apply for the grant funds to support on-campus sustainability efforts. Eagle Dining has also been named a green restaurant as part of the Virginia Green initiative.
“Following the lead of our parent corporation, Sodexo, our team is committed to reducing our carbon footprint and providing highly sustainable and eco-friendly food services at the University of Mary Washington,” said Kori Dean, general manager of Eagle Dining. “It is extremely gratifying to have those efforts recognized by such a prestigious organization. We will continue to look for the practices that will help us to be not only one of the best campus dining operations in the Commonwealth, but also one of the most sustainable.”
Several of Eagle Dining’s philanthropic efforts have included work with Dinners for the Homeless and STOP Hunger. In November 2012 the Eagle Dining sponsored campus-wide food drive collected more than 3,000 pounds of food for the Fredericksburg Area Food Bank and Presbyterian Food Pantry. For more information about Eagle Dining by Sodexo’s community outreach, visit http://umwdining.com/community/index.html.
Local businesses Reality Realty Professionals, the Title Professional LLC, NSWC Federal Credit Union and the Rappahannock Electric Cooperative also received awards at the Fredericksburg Regional Chamber of Commerce’s gala.
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News release prepared by: Julia Davis