Over the next few days, some Columbia students will have a reason to feel good about spending money on late-night snacks.
Food For Thought, a door-to-door evening room service created by the Muslim Students Association and sponsored by a broad coalition of student groups on campus, has been delivering homemade snacks to dorm rooms at Barnard and Columbia since February 14 to benefit the humanitarian effort in Gaza. All proceeds will be donated to the Disasters Emergency Committee, a relief group comprised of 13 aid agencies, among them the Red Cross and Oxfam.
“We were basically looking for creative ways to make money,” said Rhonda Shafei, CC ’12, co-creator of the temporary service, which started on Valentine’s Day and will continue every night from 10 p.m. to 4 a.m. through Sunday, February 22nd.
Shafei, along with Samiha Rahman, CC ’12, and Fatimah Rimawi, BC ’12, came up with the fundraising idea after attending a recent NYU rally for Gaza. Speakers at the rally urged the crowd to be original in their fundraising methods.
Shafei, Rahman, and Rimawi assembled a conglomerate of campus student groups including the MSA, Asian American Alliance, Engineers Without Borders, and The Veritas Forum to help with funding. They then talked with students who had worked with the CU Snacks program to develop goals, prices, and a plan for delivery.
“We came into it with really high expectations,” Shafei said.
While the service started out slow, making only $15 dollars the first night mostly from friends of the students involved, business has been steadily growing.
“One time someone had a $17 dollar order and gave me a $13 dollar tip, and you know, we’re college students,” Rahman said, expressing her gratitude that customers have shown support for the cause despite harboring a tight budget themselves.
This generosity may be due to the fact that the delivery service is non-partisan. Rahman said that MSA chose to fundraise for the DEC because it is a “trustworthy source that people wouldn’t mind giving their money to.” Still, she expressed her frustration that many people have focused solely on the conflict between Israel and Gaza rather than on the problems that plague both sides equally.
“The issue is humanitarian relief in Gaza, and it has been neglected,” Rahman said. “Regardless of what side you’re on, you have to sympathize with the humanitarian cause.”
At the same time, it was unclear whether students ordering snacks were attracted by the cause or just their late night hunger. “I didn’t know it was about Gaza,” Henry Jones, SEAS ’12, said. “Initially I was drawn by the idea of delivered baked goods rather than the Gaza Strip.”
The service offers a menu with items ranging from typical American food—cookies, grilled cheese, and peanut butter and jelly sandwiches—to a specialty plate with pita bread and hummus. The group has also partnered with JJ’s Place to obtain their supplies.
To place an order, students can e-mail either columbiafood@gmail.com or barnardfood@gmail.com, and the snacks cost from $2.50 to $6.50.
“One student said that he usually feels lazy when he gets food delivered,” recounted Rahman. “But this is for a good cause.”
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