Surplus meals not for donation

5,151 is a big number.

When translated into meals, it is enough to feed roughly half of the undergraduate class.

It is also enough to feed an extra 5,151 hungry mouths.

Or at least that's what Wharton freshman Christine Salvarani thought when she compiled a list of 107 freshmen eager to donate this large number of unused meals on their meal plans to charity.

It was one of a string of attempts to strike a deal with Penn Dining Services to donate leftover meals in food or monetary value to local organizations that help the needy.

But despite the good intentions, there's a reason why Salvarani's plan, like many others, has never been adopted by Dining Services. Its budget is based on previous patterns of food consumption and customer usage, explained Dining Services general manager John Cipollini.

So, while previous arrangements have included allowing students to donate 10 percent of their Dining Dollars to Philabundance, a local food bank, donating leftover meals is simply out of the question.

"If someone chooses not to use a particular meal, there's no savings we accrue for that since our expenses are fixed," Cipollini said.

Even so, many freshmen are frustrated by the mandatory meal plans and the seeming lack of control they have over any unused portions, said College freshman and Undergraduate Assembly member Mark Pan, who has written a proposal to encourage Aramark to donate leftover meals.

"We're required to pay thousands of dollars each year, and most students don't even use half of those meals," said Pan. "We should have a say in where that money goes."

This is not a new concern for students.

"This question comes up every year with freshmen," said director of Business Services Laurie Cousart. "But the best way to get the full value of your meal plan is to use it."

Still, Wharton and College freshman J.J. Fliegelman, who tried to arrange for donations of leftover meals as a part of his Management 100 project last semester, has thought of a new way to put the meal plan to use.

In an informal survey of around 30 friends, Fliegelman found that if $5 were donated for each unused meal, the total value would amount to around $10,000.

"That would have been hundreds of people with food," he said.

But Fliegelman's efforts were frustrated by a lack of response from Dining Services and Aramark.

"I really got the feeling they just don't want to have anything to do with this kind of charity," said Fliegelman. "It reflects poorly on the company and the University."

But Cousart countered Fliegelman by pointing out that Dining Services already contributes food, equipment and time to several Penn and West Philadelphia causes, such as Philabundance and the weekly on-campus University City Hospitality Coalition soup kitchen.

While unable to donate leftover meals, Cousart said she appreciates the efforts of Salvarani, Pan and Fliegelman as representative of Penn's commitment to local engagement.

Instead, Cipollini has agreed to help organize an as-of-yet-unspecified charitable event to match this student commitment to West Philadelphia.

"It would be a way to work together," he said.

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