BUFFALO, N.Y. — In support of Buffalo's first pay-as-you can cafe, students from Medaille College presented a donation to the restaurant on Wednesday.
Say Yes to Education program at Medaille presented a donation of $1,500 to Big Big Table. The program lead a campus-wide bottle and can drive for two months to raise money to support the nonprofit's mission of addressing food insecurity within the Buffalo community.
A total of 9,000 bottles were collected and $1,000 in matching gifts contributed to the $1,500 donation.
“This extremely generous gift from Medaille allows us to make important upgrades to our kitchen and helps us supplement our pantry — both of which allow us to continue our mission and serve our neighbors in a deeply meaningful way,” Big Big Table Community & Operations Manager Heather McCarthy said.
Say Yes students and staff members have also spent time volunteering at Big Big Table during the spring semester.
"One of our goals with ongoing serving learning projects like these is to ignite a feeling of community on and off campus,” Medaille College Dean of Student Support Services Michelle Sawyers said. “Part of Medaille’s mission is to develop empowered, civic-minded individuals who feel like they can, in turn, empower others. Many of our Say Yes students come from Buffalo’s West Side neighborhood, so supporting Big Big Table helps them give back to their community at large.”
Dr. Clement Kwakye, who is the owner and director of CK Bottles 4 Bucks and a Medaille alum, provided an extra cent per bottle, six cents rather than five, to support the fundraising effort.
Two matching gifts of $500 came from Medaille President Dr. Kenneth Macur and Vice President for Academic Affairs Dr. Carmen Wilson.