Chartwells holds second event to combat food insecurity on campus

Thursday evening, Chartwells hosted “Thank-Ful,” the second event in Chartwells Higher Education’s nationwide “Joy-Ful” campaign.

Canisius’s event was focused around combating food insecurity on campus. The event was themed as a “Friendsgiving” dinner, where students, staff and faculty could come together and share a meal.

“The Joy-Ful campaign was brought to campus this semester really to celebrate being back together on campus [as] students, faculty, community. We can be back here together, so this series is really to celebrate that,” said Carey McCormick, the director of catering for Chartwells. The event was free to the Canisius community with an optional donation of $3 or three non-perishable canned food items. Along with the month-long canned food drive, Canisius also committed to donating a pound of food per person in attendance to food pantries and shelters around Buffalo.

“We really wanted to give back with that community aspect,” McCormick said.

Thank-Ful featured a large array of Thanksgiving-themed food and desserts, as well as plenty of chances to win fun prizes and participate in activities. Activities included the Thank-Ful wall located inside the dining hall, which featured notes of gratitude from attendees of the event.

Canisius dining donated 100 meal vouchers as well in order to combat food insecurity on campus. According to a press release from Canisius Dining, Director of Dining John Tychinski said, “Chartwells’ Thank-Ful event is a great opportunity for our students to come together in a schoolwide ‘Friendsgiving’ celebration and be together as a campus. We also love that the event provides the unique opportunity to give back to our community and help fight food insecurity our students and community may face.”