Students transform unused dining dollars into meals for the community

Addison Moore ’27 wanted to repurpose dining dollars that may otherwise go unused. (Photo by Adam Atkinson)

By: Kelly Huth

Addison Moore ’27 had an idea his first year on campus—what if there were a way to collect unused dining swipes and repurpose them to create prepared meals for those in need in Easton?

The government and law and psychology major wasn’t quite sure how it could work, or who he could partner with, but he knew his first stop—Dyer Center for Innovation and Entrepreneurship.

With mentorship from Rita Chesterton, director of Dyer Center, and support from Business Services, Parkhurst Dining, and Office of Sustainability—plus volunteers from 27 different on-campus groups—Moore and his team created Swipe It Forward. Through a week’s worth of fundraising events, the group raised enough to send 150 prepared meals to nonprofit ProJeCt of Easton. 

“It felt like the whole campus was coming together to make this happen,” Moore says.

Finding his team

Food insecurity has been a focus for Moore. Back home in Connecticut, Moore founded Up Next Teens in 2021, a nonprofit that hosts fundraisers to relieve food insecurity. “It gives teens a safe space while allowing them to come up with innovative solutions to solve food insecurity, especially in food deserts,” he says.

He wanted to bring lessons learned to campus. He noticed some weeks he’d have dining dollars that went unused, and he wanted to repurpose them. 

In September 2023, he met with Chesterton, who asked questions and encouraged him to meet with departments across campus to better understand processes. That research and early connections laid the groundwork for Swipe It Forward, an idea Moore pursued in his free time for a year and a half.

Chesterton says Moore did an incredible job of pulling in resources and partners across campus to not only raise awareness but plan events to meet his goal. “He organized and motivated all these volunteers working together toward the same goal. They all became part of his team,” she says. “That’s what entrepreneurs do. That’s the Lafayette spirit.”

She added how important it is to have a place on campus like the Dyer Center, where students can figure out how to bring ideas to fruition.

“We don’t always have answers to the questions, but we are here to help with the processes, to help students find the answers,” Chesterton says. “If you’re on a college campus you have tremendous access to people who can help you, resources, experts—it allows students to build on their ideas if they want to take advantage of it.”

Bringing everyone together

Moore says an early partner of Swipe It Forward was Lafayette’s Business Services.

“When Addison brought this to us, we were all on board,” says Geoff Labe, assistant vice president, Operations. “He blew us away with how organized this effort was.”

Business Services provided a tablet and system for collecting unused dining dollars, and promoted Swipe It Forward throughout dining centers. 

In March, volunteers organized a week of events where students could trade dining dollars for admission to Battle of the Bands or purchase items from a pop-up sustainable market. 

Pard to Pard, the campus thrift store, donated clothes, school supplies, and kitchen goods for the market. The Office of Sustainability sent tote bags, reusable utensil sets, and straws. LaFarm sent bags of salad mix, microgreens, salsa, tomato sauce, and plants.

Approximately 1,000 students donated dining dollars that may have otherwise gone unused to support the initiative. Business Services and campus dining partner Parkhurst partnered with Moore to transform these dining dollars into full meals.

Labe notes Parkhurst Dining, in partnership with student-run Food Recovery Network, regularly distributes extra food from dining halls to Easton nonprofits, including Safe Harbor and Third Street Alliance. But for Swipe It Forward, Parkhurst prepared full meals including meat and starch. 

Moore then recruited student volunteers to package and assemble ready-to-distribute kits at ProJeCt of Easton, for those in the community who need them most.

Samantha Comas, sustainability outreach and engagement manager, says Swipe It Forward had high impact and engagement, and educated students about food insecurity. “This is a great example of seeing a need and finding unique solutions to address it in real time,” she says.