Sodexo Donates 20 Percent of Lunch Sales to CSUSB Den Food Pantry

The check may have been oversized, but it showed that Sodexo, which operates food and catering services at Cal State San Bernardino, is serious about helping needy students – it has donated a portion of the sales from its fall quarter grand opening day to the university’s food pantry. Company representatives presented a check for $1,219.95 to the CSUSB DEN Food Pantry Jan. 13, fulfilling a promise by Sodexo to donate 20 percent of its sales from its grand opening event at the CSUSB Commons held last September. “Dave Janosky (CSUSB Dining Services general manager) and David Aylmer (Sodexo district manager) approached us looking for ways to help with the DEN’s mission,” said Bryant Fairley, associate director of the CSUSB Office of Community Engagement. “They recognized food insecurity among college students is a growing trend and wanted to see what they could do to help hungry CSUSB students.” “Dealing with hunger is a huge issue and Sodexo is committed to working with local groups and cities to combat it,” Janosky said. “It’s part of our culture,” he said. “We promote wellness, nutrition and dealing with hunger in the community. We support Cal State San Bernardino and its mission.” The DEN, which stands for Delivering Emergency Nourishment, opened its doors a year ago to help CSUSB students in need with food and personal care items. The pantry, which is located at CSUSB’s Community Engagement office in the Faculty Office Building, was created to help students who need food and to provide a supportive environment to ensure students’ overall success, Fairley said. To date, the DEN provides about 80 bags of food a month that students can take home to prepare meals to feed themselves and in some cases their families. In addition, it also distributes about 200 daily kits per month, which contains food that a student can eat at school. Sodexo’s check was also significant because during the Commons grand opening, the lunchtime sales proved to be one of the company’s biggest on record at CSUSB, Janosky said. “It was a huge day here at the commons.” Fairley called it a “win-win all the way around. It showed the power of the campus community to give by coming out and supporting the grand opening lunch.” Janosky said he plans to make the opening day donation an annual event. “We also plan to do multiple events, which may be not as grandiose, but will constantly collaborate with the DEN,” Janosky said. “It’s all of our duty to help. It’s my personal mission to be of service and whenever possible help people who need it.”