Aaron Barrow
Oxford is a city that thrives on generosity. Local parks have book sharing cubbies, the University of Mississippi hosts Grove Grocery and, most recently, a student-led food resource project has been established.
The project, which is a part of the Oxford Community Market’s Flower of Life Volunteer Squad, was started by senior international studies major Jackson McArthur in October 2020 during his freshman year with the support of OXCM Director Betsy Chapman.
What began as a close-knit group of volunteers has become a widespread effort, earning a University of Mississippi Celebration of Service Award in April, the highest honor given for accomplishments in community service.
“When we started, it was a pretty small program,” McArthur said. “The basic idea was to save food which would otherwise be thrown out from restaurants and grocery stores and give it to communities in need.”
Per Chapman’s suggestion, they agreed that obtaining high-quality leftover food from sororities and fraternities rather than restaurants would be more feasible in the long run and utilized Chapman’s connection to a chef at Alpha Omicron Pi, Zach Tillotson, to begin their project
“When we started we would just set up tents and tables at the places we distributed to, and we would take the pans that the food came in and package them in to-go boxes,” McArthur said.
Since 2020, the organization has gained a following and support from multiple fraternity and sorority houses and has moved their operations to the Oxford University United Methodist Church kitchen, where volunteers package and prepare goods to be sent to those in need.
Due to an increase in outreach and volunteers throughout Oxford, the project has successfully expanded to three Oxford communities — CB Webb, Canterbury Crest and Walnut Hills.
“We have served roughly 7,500 complete, diverse and nutritious meals over a period of three years, with over 1,500 volunteer hours from university students,” McArthur said. “We also work closely with the UM Department of Sustainability, who provide us with roughly 1,000 to-go boxes every semester.”
Other organizations within the OXCM Flower of Life Volunteer Squad include Grow Club, a student-led project that works with children in the community to plant and harvest vegetables from the market’s gardens.
McArthur invites students and community members to visit Oxford Community Market on Tuesdays from 3 to 6 p.m. to learn more about the food resource project and the market’s other community initiatives.
More information about Oxford Community Market can be found on its website.
