Culinary Services team members spend their days serving the campus community, but each summer, some take that spirit of service beyond the dining halls.
Through a partnership with LMTS Community Outreach Services, Culinary Services staff members volunteer at Fresh Food Friday, a community food distribution event in Lansing designed to provide fresh food and other resources to local residents.
LMTS Community Outreach Services, affiliated with the Tabernacle of David Church, operates a food pantry serving the Lansing community throughout the year. Fresh Food Friday expands that work into a larger community event several times during the summer.
For East Neighborhood Dining Service Complex Manager Angie Simpson, the partnership is an opportunity to use the people and resources available at MSU to make an impact beyond campus.
“The fact that we can take people from our space and move it into the community and really help to make an impact on the community, I think is probably the thing I like the most,” Simpson says.
An Idea Rooted in Service
MSU Culinary Services became involved with Fresh Food Friday about three years ago through Lisa Cox, a Culinary Services cook who had been active with LMTS Community Outreach Services.
Cox approached Simpson about creating a volunteer opportunity for Culinary Services employees during the summer, when operations on campus are typically slower.
“She’s the one who kind of pushed this forward and got it off the ground,” Simpson says. “I’m just the organizer. She really deserves all the credit.”
From there, the opportunity grew into a recurring way for Culinary Services team members to volunteer together and support the work LMTS was already doing in Lansing.
While LMTS operates its pantry throughout the week, Fresh Food Friday brings the organization’s resources outside of its storefront and creates a larger-scale distribution event. Community partners and volunteers help distribute food and connect residents with available resources.
The July event also brought together organizations including MSU RHS Culinary Services, Meijer Warehouse, the Lansing Mayor’s Office, City Council, LAFCU, Eastern Stars and New Smiles New Beginnings.
Building Community Beyond Campus
For Simpson, the event is about more than providing food. It also creates an opportunity for MSU employees to connect with the greater Lansing community and with one another.
This year, Culinary Services employees from different neighborhoods across campus volunteered together. Some had never worked closely with one another before the event.
“People I’ve never had conversations with, I got the opportunity to have a conversation with,” Simpson says. “So now when I see their name somewhere, I’m like, ‘Oh yeah, I know that person. I talked to them.’”
Those interactions make Fresh Food Friday a different kind of team-building experience.
“It’s a unique way to build relationships with other people that work here at MSU."
The experience also reflects what Simpson values about being part of the Spartan community.
“I think the Spartan community is so great,” Simpson says. “Working at MSU, it’s probably one of my all-time favorite jobs that I’ve had.”
Extending the Spartan Spirit
Fresh Food Friday gives Culinary Services employees a chance to take the skills and service mindset they use every day on campus and bring them into the surrounding community.
Even if that opportunity happens only a few times each year, Simpson said the impact still matters.
For LMTS, that work extends beyond food distribution. The organization also connects community members with additional forms of assistance and, at certain times of the year, raises money to help residents with needs such as utility bills.
For Culinary Services, the partnership is one way to support those efforts while strengthening connections among employees and with the Lansing community.
Learn more about LMTS Community Outreach Services, including available resources, upcoming events and ways to get involved, at lmtsoutreach.org.
Author: Daniela Del Castillo