The relationship between ARAMARK and Loaves and Fishes, a Burlington Christian Food Ministry, has suffered recently. The reasons are likely to vary depending on whom you ask.

In the spring of 2006, ARAMARK began donating unused food from Elon’s campus to Loaves and Fishes, whose mission is to feed those in need.

When the system was firmly in place, Elon was on a pickup route throughout the state that stretched from Stony Creek to Hillsborough. The route included stops at every Food Lion along the way, as well as a number of Harris Teeter and Lowes Foods store locations.

According to Tag Gray, the ARAMARK food service director on campus who initiated the arrangement, day-old bread from Danieley Center, Octagon and Acorn was available for morning pickup at the Acorn location. Additionally, unused portions from Harden Dining Hall were stored to be picked up twice a week.

Loaves and Fishes still picks up leftover bagels from Acorn every Monday.

“Any time during the week if we have leftover bagels, we freeze them and call Loaves and Fishes the next day and they come pick them up,” Acorn manager Brian Donnelly said.

Gray, who has previously worked at regional schools like UNC-Greensboro and Wake Forest University, said this was the first time he saw ARAMARK take this kind of action.

According to Brenda Ingle, executive director at Loaves and Fishes, the system became significantly flawed after four months. She said that their driver would often arrive to a kitchen that was unprepared to exchange food, if there was any to give. Because of the large scale of the pickup route, and rising fuel prices, she said the driver could not wait around or return at a later time.

“I feel like we could have made it work,” Ingle said. “The Elon management knew what had to happen. However, some of the employees didn’t understand [the process] or bother to deal with it. It was easier to throw away the food or take it home.”

Gray maintained that the fallout occurred much earlier and was based on an inconsistent method of pickup. He said that after a month the center only came to Harden once a week and then not at all. By the end of the last school year, he said they had stopped coming to both locations.

“It would have been different if we had a way to deliver food ourselves,” he said, “but we don’t have the capacity to do it.”

Because of increased donations during the holiday season, food intake is currently stable at Loaves and Fishes. But the center only has enough food to manage a day-to-day supply. It is when the “giving” season dies down, between January and October, that the situation becomes difficult.

At Elon, Gray said that ARAMARK is committed to finding another outlet to donate food to, perhaps the Allied Churches of Alamance County. He does not count out the possibility of working with the original center again under a more concrete system.

“If Loaves and Fishes were interested in trying it again,” he said, “I’d be up for it.”

Reporter: Bobby Hoppey - 12/05/07