JJC Students Collect 600 Pounds of Food for Daybreak Shelter

Joliet Junior College submitted this news release:

Joliet Junior College students collected and delivered 600 pounds of food for Daybreak Shelter in Joliet during the annual JJC/American Culinary Federation (ACF) Food Drive in October. This is 150 pounds more than what was collected last year, and even though head organizer and JJC culinary professor Fred Ferrara said he doesn’t set a goal for the collection, this year’s amount will be a huge help to the shelter.

“It’s a win-win,” Ferrara said. “The shelter gets the food they need and the students can do something for others.”

In addition to collecting the food, students also helped load the van and delivered the food.

View photos of JJC students working the food drive

“When we got to the shelter, those who could came down to Daybreak with me and they helped unload,” Ferrara said. “The kitchen is in the basement down the stairs. We formed an assembly line on the stairs and passed everything down.”

In conjunction with the food drive, culinary students cooked 500 pre-packaged boxed meals, which included beef or pork stew, assorted vegetables, rolls, and an apple crisp dessert for both Daybreak Shelter and Joliet’s Morning Star Mission.

Student groups involved with the JJC/ACF food drive were: the Competitive Cooking Club, the Epicurean Cooking Club, Phi Theta Kappa, and the Joliet Junior College Honors Program.

The food drive is organized every October in honor of National Childhood Hunger Awareness Month.

This year’s donations were accepted at JJC’s Main Campus, 1215 Houbolt Road in Joliet, and at the City Center Campus, 214 N. Ottawa St. in Joliet. For more information about the food drive, contact Ferrara at 815-280-2529.