Thank You for Keeping us Fed

The past few days have been a somewhat unique time on the Southeast campus. For most students it is the first time they have seen the University close for a “snow day.” The last time the campus saw this kind of winter weather impact the campus was in 2009. In fact, “Thursday and Friday's winter storm event was the fourth largest in Cape Girardeau on record since the blizzard of 1979 in terms of snowfall, according to Southeast Missourian archives.” During that time the campus ended up housing and helping feed recovery workers who were trying to clear roads, restore power, and check on people in the region south of Cape Girardeau. Of course with the snow day has come the major task of digging out all the sidewalks, parking lots, and steps that make up the Southeast campus. 

I want to use this opportunity to send a special thank you to the staff of Chartwells at Southeast for their work during the time the University was closed the weekend that followed. Chartwells provides a critical service for our campus and with nearly 3,000 people on campus during this time, Chartwells was able to do more than just keep a few food service venues up and running, they were able to keep all the main campus venues open and even were able to have the various retail venues including Subway, Olives, and Rowdy’s open to provide students and staff with dining options.  

There is one story that, while the Chartwells staff member would not want to have shared, I think showcases this commitment to our students better than anything I’ve heard in many years. Very early on Friday morning, the Director for Chartwells was contacted by a local utility provider asking if Chartwells could provide breakfast for the utility crews as they headed out into the ongoing winter weather that Friday. Mary, the Sous Chef for Chartwells, walked to campus early that morning (and by early I mean before 3:00am) to begin prepping for breakfast for both the utility crews and for our students and staff living on campus. Other Chartwells team members arranged for carpools with other Chartwells team members to help those who did not have a vehicle that could make it to campus on Friday.

Trying to provide nearly 10,000 meals on a typical day is no easy task, but trying to do this on a day when most of the City of Cape Girardeau was covered in a mix of snow and ice was a monumental task. I am very thankful for the work of the Chartwells team and their ability to work through one of the worst winter storms our area has seen in about 35 years.  At a time when everyone was being advised to avoid travel except when absolutely needed, the Chartwells team made their way to campus and honored their commitment to providing a quality dining program for our students.