Written by: Genesis Ventura
Student Senate and the School of Social Work recently collaborated to provide Feed My Sheep with a new refrigerator.
According to Southern Adventist University’s website, Feed My Sheep is a community food pantry open to all Southern students and employees. It is located in Fleming Plaza suite #1500, next to the Adventist Book Center. The pantry is run by the School of Social Work in partnership with the Humanitarian Engagement office.
In an interview with the Accent, Student Association (SA) Executive Vice President Htet Myint said the new refrigerator is the result of an SA initiative that allows departments to submit proposals for needed projects. The project surfaced to the top among 12 submitted proposals.
“The criteria which [we used to] rank them is: How impactful would this be for students? And how impactful it would be to departments that we previously reached from Senate last year?” Myint said. “We also base it on the department’s budgets. [The School of Social Work] doesn’t have the budget for Feed My Sheep. … Senate felt like this project would impact the most people.”
Michelle Clinton, School of Social Work office manager, said that Feed My Sheep has been fundraising and starting conversations in hopes of obtaining a new refrigerator and was thrilled when SA reached out to see what needs the department had.
“We have had over 288 client visits so far this semester, so it’s definitely a need,” Clinton said.
Myint said Senate gave $2,859 to Feed My Sheep to purchase the new refrigerator and is open to helping Feed My Sheep with any future needs.
Clinton explained that the former refrigerators were old and were causing food to spoil quicker. Since receiving the new refrigerator, the produce has stayed fresh significantly longer. Clinton hopes to spread awareness about the food pantry, saying, “We don’t want anybody going hungry.”
Senate is fully supportive of any plans to serve the community of Collegedale, Myint said.
“We just want to [express] our sincere appreciation. We are so thankful. You should have heard me when I got [Myint’s] email,” Clinton said, describing her excitement when she discovered that SA Senate was purchasing the refrigerator.
