UNE 's Parkhurst Dining staff raises over $5K for local children's hospital

The University of New England dining and catering staff really raised their game this school year.

On Feb. 11, the UNE Parkhurst Dining staff donated a catered meal and their time to provide a lunch for 100 at the MaineHealth Barbara Bush Children's Hospital in Portland. The day of service put a fine point on the $5,300 the staff raised and donated to the local children's hospital.

Each year, Parkhurst Dining — a contract food service provider that services colleges, universities, and corporations throughout the mid-Atlantic states — holds a company-wide challenge aimed at supporting children’s hospitals. Through the Caring for Kids challenge, the Pittsburgh-based company encourages teams to raise funds to help local communities, as well as to claim bragging rights in the company’s competition — a 46-year tradition.

Kayla Maniery, UNE’s director of catering at Parkhurst Dining, said her staff was motivated to finish among the top dining teams at the 50 colleges and universities that Parkhurst Dining serves in 14 states. UNE finished second with its fund-raising effort of $5,392 behind the Robert Morris University team, who raised $8,400. The UNE dining staff also provided a catered, hand-crafted meal to the families, children, and staff at the Barbara Bush hospital. 

“That’s quite a bit of money to hustle for our small school compared to the big-boy schools. That was kind of cool. I think next year we're going to raise the bar and shoot for the stars,” said Maniery, adding that the UNE dining staff takes pride in their reputation for healthy, made-from-scratch meals, attention to dietary restrictions, and national ranking as a food allergy-friendly university. 

After raising between $1,000 and $1,500 in the competition the last two years, the UNE team's goal this year was to raise $2,500. But after meeting that goal during the annual event, they kept going.

In November and December, the UNE staff ran several mini fundraising events from an auction and whoopie pie sales at football games to can collections and a pie-in-the-face challenge — where students could pay $2 to throw a whip-cream pie in the face of a dining hall director. Another fundraiser allowed dining staff who paid $2 to come to work on Friday in jeans. The biggest effort came from the silent auction that sold UNE swag and discounted dining plans to students and drew another $2,800.