Sophomore Arash Sabet started the Feed St. Louis program, which delivers food to area shelters.
By Neil Schoenherr
November 2, 2001
Even in a country like the United States, where so many live prosperous lives and have more than needed, thousands go to bed hungry every night. Sophomore Arash Sabet recognized that and decided to do something about it.
Sophomore Arash Sabet started the Feed St. Louis program, which delivers food to area shelters. |
Sabet, a biomedical engineering major from St. Louis, started thinking about food distribution very shortly after he arrived on campus last year.
"I was in Center Court (in Wohl Student Center), and I noticed there was a lot of food left over at the end of the night," Sabet said. "I happened to be there late and wondered what they were going to do with the food."
So Sabet decided to find out. He talked to the chef on duty, who said the food would be thrown away.
"I told him I would like to get a program going," Sabet said. And he did.
Called "Feed St. Louis," the program has 10 student volunteers who deliver food --in their cars or in a van borrowed from the biology department in Arts & Sciences --to five area shelters every day of the week. Not too bad, considering Sabet's humble beginnings of doing one delivery one night a week.
Sabet always has been involved in his community and concerned about others. This is not the first food operation he has started.
The summer after his junior year of high school, he noticed that a local bagel shop where a friend worked threw away all the bagels at the end of the night. So he started going to the shop at night, picking up all the extra bagels, and taking them to a homeless shelter the following morning.
"At the time, I was only picking up bagels, but I found it to be very rewarding. So when I noticed that foodwas being thrown away here, I figured I could do the same thing," he said.
But without transportation, it was a difficult process.
"Last year, because I was a freshman, I didn't have a car and had no way to transport the food," Sabet said.
He had completed a Prefreshmen Summer Scholars Program in Biology and Biomedical Research at the School of Medicine the summer before his freshmen year. During that time, students used a biology department van to go to different events around campus and in the community.
So Sabet asked Elaine Alexander, assistant outreach coordinator of biology, if it were possible to use the van to do deliveries. The department agreed.
"Arash is a genuine person who can be counted on for service above and beyond the call of duty," Alexander said. "He has been a great role model for his fellow students and is one of the most thoughtful and considerate students I have met in my seven years at the University."
So Sabet started picking up food a few nights a week and delivering it to homeless shelters. As word about the program spread, it began to grow as more students volunteered to collect food or drive to the shelters.
Sabet now works closely with senior Liberty Howell to coordinate drivers, times and delivery schedules for the volunteers.
Leftover food is funneled from other dining locations to Center Court and picked up at 8:30 p.m. It is then delivered to five area shelters: the Christian Service Center; the Family Haven and Community in Partnership, which are run by the Salvation Army; Rosati Group Home; and the New Life Evangelistic Center.
"Everyone is always very happy to see the food go somewhere," Sabet said. "The people in dining services work so hard to prepare it, and they all have such a hard time throwing it away.
"The shelters are very happy to receive it because it's good food and well prepared. The food is everything from meats and potatoes to vegetables and grains. It isn't just canned food."
Sabet said delivering the food makes the students happy, too, because it's something productive to do outside of classes.
"It seems like so often we get caught up in frivolous matters, but when you do a food delivery, you know you are impacting the community directly," he said. "And it only takes a few hours for a delivery."
Greg Teator, general manager of University Dining Services, thinks Feed St. Louis is a great program.
"It's wonderful that the food can be given to people who can use it instead of it being thrown away," Teator said.
Teator said the University uses as much of its prepared food as possible.
"Our goal is to have food available for every student who walks through that line, and we have to prepare accordingly," he said. "We very closely monitor the amount of food prepared and eaten so we don't overspend and limit our waste. However, food items that have been heated or served on a line cannot be reused."
That's where Feed St. Louis comes in.
Sabet recently applied Feed St. Louis for student group status. If accepted, possibly as early as next semester, the program would get money from Student Union to be used for new pans to trasnport food and for other needs.
"There are a lot of freshmen and underclassmen who are interested in helping but they don't have cars," Sabet said. "We are trying to introduce younger people now and get them excited about volunteering. Then when they have cars on campus, they can drive and the program will continue.
"I think there is a genuine interest in delivering food to people," he added. "It is an easy way to volunteer in the community, and it is very necessary."
To find out more about Feed St. Louis, contact Sabet at 933-2335 or at arashsabet@hotmail.com.
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