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Muma College of Business Staffers Mount a Post-Irma Food Drive for the Feed-A-Bull Pantry

By Keith Morelli

TAMPA (September 14, 2017) -- Out of the frightening experience of going through a hurricane, comes some good.

Muma College of Business staffers Barb Bushnell, Melony Herron and Douglas McLeod figured a lot of people, if not everyone, stockpiled non-perishable goods – cans of soup and vegetables, jars of fruit and sauces, packages of noodles and crackers – expecting to be ready should Hurricane Irma wreak more havoc in the Tampa Bay area than it did.

Now that the storm has passed, sparing much of the region the worst of the hit, those people may have found their cupboards crammed full of canned goods that they couldn't eat in a month.

So, the trio have set up collection points for food around the Muma College of Business where overstocked hurricane survivors can bring in their non-perishables and donate to the Feed-A-Bull Pantry.

"It just seemed like a natural thing to do," said Bushnell, the college's human resources director. "I know I have a bunch of soups I don't even like, but I bought because there was nothing else on the shelves."

She said a donation box was set up in the dean's suite, three are in the atrium, and a couple of boxes are in the mailroom.

The Feed-A-Bull initiative was established by the Center for Student Well-Being, the Office of Student Outreach and Support and Feeding America Tampa Bay. It is available for enrolled ßÙßÇÂþ»­ students on the USF Tampa campus and was created to address food insecurity by providing supplemental food to students in need. It also teaches students how to purchase food and prepare balanced diets on a budget.

The program's goal is to alleviate hunger among ßÙßÇÂþ»­ students, thereby creating an atmosphere more conducive to education and ultimately student retention. It was created as a response to the recognition that some ßÙßÇÂþ»­ students may face food insecurity while attending a university, and supplemental food assistance may assist in allowing USF students to focus on their studies.

By providing emergency food assistance, Feed-A-Bull works to ensure that ßÙßÇÂþ»­ students will not have to choose between buying text books and groceries and that no ßÙßÇÂþ»­ student will go hungry.

The boxes will be collected on Friday (Sept. 22).