![\"Keith](\"https:\/\/www.uri.edu\/news-draft\/wp-content\/uploads\/news\/sites\/16\/2021\/05\/two-loading-NL-C19-015.jpg\")
<\/a>John Fuscaldo, a motor equipment operator for URI Dining Services, was at the Hope Commons loading dock Tuesday morning, rolling in carts of food from Hope\u2019s Mainfare dining room, into a truck. He was eager to hit the road as the driver.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt\u2019s great that we are reaching out to the community and that we can help out,\u201d Fuscaldo said.<\/p>\n
Gwendolyn \u201cWendy\u201d Pugh,\u00a0food service supervisor, helped load the truck, too, and would ride to Cumberland with Fuscaldo.<\/p>\n
\u201cIn this crazy time, I am glad we can do something like this. It feels good because people are struggling.\u201d Pugh said. \u201cWe are all trying to contribute.\u201d<\/p>\n
Keith Mancini, a principal cook, was constantly on the move as he directed his team.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe have great resources and great people here at URI. Everybody is so into this and I am very proud of what we are doing.\u201d<\/p>\n
Before the meals started rolling out the door this week, the state connected with Kathy Collins, URI vice president for Student Affairs and Anne Marie Coleman, assistant vice president for Human Resource Administration, to find out if URI could help. Collins and Coleman then looked to Pierre St-Germain, URI\u2019s director of Dining Services.<\/p>\n
\u201cI am thankful for the team in URI Dining and their desire to make a difference across campus and across Rhode Island,\u201d Collins said. \u201cOur Dining staff is excited to help those in need during this difficult time.<\/p>\n
\u201cOur agency continues to be laser focused on supporting older adults, caregivers and adults with disabilities,\u201d said Office of Healthy Aging Director Rosamaria Amoros Jones. \u201cAcross the state, senior centers are serving as hubs for their community, providing valuable services to people in need and delivering thousands of meals daily. Through this partnership with URI, we\u2019ve increased the number of nutritious meals distributed by these centers, helping to ensure older adults, who are at higher risk for severe illness, have the supports they need to stay healthy and safe at home during this time of physical distancing. We are grateful to URI for their partnership.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cThere has been a big spike in the need for meals that are normally provided by senior centers,\u201d St-Germain said. \u201cThe state asked how many meals we could produce and I replied that we could definitely package 500, so that\u2019s what we\u2019re doing Monday through Friday, delivering to senior centers from Cumberland to Westerly.\u201d<\/p>\n
St-Germain said this is another way the University is serving the state during the pandemic. He said that the University orders most of its food at the beginning of each semester, so when the students did not return at the end of March, it made sense to draw on this remaining supply and the expertise of the Dining Services team, which knows how to create nutritious and tasty meals for thousands of students each day.<\/p>\n
\u201cMany staff work through the end of the academic year in May, and others remain throughout the summer,\u00a0 and so this is a way to sustain our workforce while at the same time doing something altruistic for some of the most vulnerable people in Rhode Island, the elderly and immuno-compromised.\u201d<\/p>\n
St-Germain said the University is scheduled to provide assistance until June 1.<\/p>\n
Because of state purchasing practices, URI Dining Services buys its food in bulk and a significant portion is frozen. All of it would have been consumed by students here until the end of the semester, incoming first-year students during orientation in June, and students normally here for summer session. Without those large groups, URI was interested in making sure it did not go to waste and was used in a timely manner.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe work hard to ensure that our students enjoy the highest quality product, and now that food is going to the elderly food pantries around the state,\u201d St-Germain said.<\/p>\n
Mask makers, too<\/strong><\/p>\n In another area of the Mainfare dining facility, a group of cooks helpers made masks for University employees in their own department and beyond. The crew that day included Diana Bibeault, Debbie Castovillari, Erin Hagopian and Jennifer Souza. Some sewed while others ironed to make the fabric easier to hem.<\/p>\n Bibeault, who is normally assigned to Butterfield Dining Hall, sat at a sewing machine making double-sided, colorful masks. In her spare time, she is a quilter.<\/p>\n \u201cI have donated all the fabric I normally use in my quilts to this effort,\u201d Bibeault said. \u201cThis is for the greater good. The first batch of material was donated by dining managers, but now we are using my supply. We want to keep our co-workers safe and those in other departments at URI. Each employee gets two so they can launder one while they wear the other.\u201d<\/p>\n Souza said the project is fun and rewarding, \u201cBut we do miss seeing the kids every day. Interacting with them is the best. We look forward to having them back.\u201d<\/p>\n Please see two links for B-roll of URI Dining Services staff members preparing meals for Rhode Island senior centers and making masks for dining workers and other essential URI personnel.<\/p>\n 30s<\/p>\n<\/a>