HAVOC, the Hamilton Action Volunteer Outreach Coalition and one of Hamilton's largest student organizations, has been recognized by Your Neighbors, Inc. as the Volunteers of the Year for the contributions of their Food Salvage project. For the past five years, HAVOC members have packaged food left over after meals at dining halls and delivered it to Your Neighbors. The project was started by Sharon Hakim '06 with cooperation and support from Hamilton food service provider Bon Appetit. Suzy Belmont '07 is the current head of the operation.
Other members working on the project are, Amanda Merrow '07, Ashley Langer '09, Courtney Odening '07, Eric Petschek '08, Evan Torres '08, Fiona Rigby '08, Jamie Wildstein '09, Josh Cheung '09, Katherine McElroy '08, Kelly Rowe '09, Leandra Folk '09, Lindsay Waterbury '09, Liz Ursell '09, Megan Herman '09, Melanie Leeds '08, Melissa Kong '08, Molly Keogh '09, Nicole Edry '09, Rachel Horowitz '09 and Whitney Overocker.
The students work in the dining halls at Hamilton College, assemble the trays at the end of the lunch or dinner hour. They take the food that was not served and put a complete balanced meal together (for example, grilled chicken, scalloped potatoes and green beans). They label and freeze the meals and deliver them once a month to a freezer at Zion church. The majority of the meals Your Neighbors delivers are made by these students who belong to HAVOC.
Your Neighbors is a local service agency dedicated to providing quality service and support to people who are frail, elderly or have a disability in their home setting. Volunteers offer friendly visits, medical transportation, supplemental frozen meals and specialized shopping services to those in the greater Utica area. For more information on Your Neighbors, visit their website at www.yourneighborsinc.com. To learn more about HAVOC and all of their volunteer programs, visit their website at students.hamilton.edu/havoc.
