On Jan. 17, nine students from Madison College’s volunteer center helped Little John’s Kitchen get meals out to community sites in need for Martin Luther King Day .  

“The volunteer center student organization is all about providing different options for students. So one of the student leaders of the volunteer organization, her name is Madeline, she created that volunteer opportunity for students over winter break,” said Brianna Stapelton Welch, Madison College’s volunteer center advisor. 

Little John’s Kitchen is an organization that uses unwanted food from grocery stores, farms and restaurants, to make homemade chef quality meals for those in need. They also have a meals on wheels program designed for seniors. Every Monday, Wednesday and Friday, Little John’s Kitchen sends delivery drivers to drop off dinner and a dessert for those who place an order through their website. The meals range from pesto pasta and Swedish meatballs, to BBQ chicken mac and beef stew.  

The students were placed into a wide variety of volunteer groups and helped with tasks such as: making sandwiches, assembling salads, packaging up sauce, sanitizing containers, labeling packages and sorting fruit. 

 “There was, gosh, I think 400 to 500 meals to get out into the community, so once one type of meal was finished, they put us on onto the next one. So each of us got moved around to different volunteer stations throughout the afternoon,” Welch said. 

While there are other volunteer events in the works at Madison College currently, the details of those events are still being worked out. Welch did say however, that on March 2, there will be a volunteer fair and on April 13, there will be a food drive. She also said that something is being planned for Valentine’s Day and spring break, but she didn’t have those details quite yet. 

For students who are interested in getting involved with Madison College’s volunteer center student organization, they can join the group via WolfPack Connect, follow the group’s Facebook and Instagram pages or keep a look out for posted events on Madison College’s digital TVs around campus.