Throughout the week of Feb. 12, Colgate University’s Frank Dining Hall featured a variety of events promoting kindness on campus and beyond. This annual Delightful Week was a complete success, and featured new foods and events for students each day.
Allison Bowers, Colgate’s registered dietician, explained how Delightful Week is an effort to bring joy to Colgate students during the Spring semester.
“Delightful Week is always a great way to engage with students with fun activities that break up with winter blues,” Bowers said.
The week started out with a charitable event on Monday, Feb. 12. Students were encouraged to make goody bags for the Thea Bowman House in Utica, N.Y., which is an organization that seeks to help poverty-stricken children by providing care through an educational and social program.
Colgate Dining Services Marketing Manager Tiffany Simmons reflected on her motivation behind the event benefiting the Thea Bowman House.
“My inspiration for this event was my year and a half I spent working there [at Thea Bowman House],” Simmons said. “A lot of those children come from homes where it’s either pay the rent or eat dinner for the night, so the school does a great job of keeping its doors open late so we know the students get three proper meals a day. A lot of them also don’t have toys or even small things like coloring books because their parents simply can’t afford them right now.”
On Tuesday, Feb. 13, there was a DIY Starbucks medicine ball tea station with hot water, lemonade, tea packets, honey and a recipe to take home. There also was a “pop of positivity” dart and balloon game for students to participate in.
“Students popped a balloon with a random act of kindness behind it. If they pledged to take the challenge, they were welcomed to take a piece of Delightful merch including water bottles, coffee tumblers, bags, notebooks and stress balls,” Simmons said. “In total, we had over 200 pledges of kindness on Tuesday alone.”
As for food options, Simmons also commented that campus Executive Chef Anthony Donofrio and Frank Dining Hall Executive Chef Bryan Gugliamo put together a new menu of exciting offerings the students had never seen in the dining hall before, headlined with street corn dip and funfetti pizza.
For Valentine’s Day on Wednesday, Feb. 14, there was a fun surprise: a flower delivery to students.
“We gave over 11 dozen flowers to random students who ate lunch in Frank,” Simmons said. “The event is held to bring some kindness and happiness to a day that is not filled with that for some. This is a favorite event among students who love the surprise of feeling love from our staff. Each flower was attached with a kindness quite encouraging students to pay it forward and keep the kindness going all week long.”
Senior Mel Anderson was touched by Frank Dining Hall’s unexpected gesture.
“The flower made me feel really special and left me in a good mood for the rest of the day,” Anderson said. “It was a beautiful surprise.”
There also was a chocolate covered strawberries station, which included many creative options along with the traditional melted chocolate including oreo pieces, graham crackers, chocolate chips and more.
On Thursday, Feb. 15, there was an act of kindness station where students were encouraged to write an act of kindness on a sticky note and get a piece of candy.
For those that did not get to attend the annual Delightful Week, there are still plenty of new menu options and upcoming events to check out at Frank Dining Hall throughout the semester.
