MORGANTOWN, W.Va. — A West Virginia University student plotted for months about a gesture of generosity.
As the fall 2015 semester was in full swing in October, John Fisher was managing his prepaid meal plan budget.
“I was looking at how many meals I had left for the year. I just realized that I was going to have a lot left over. I was thinking I have to do something with them,” said the freshman.
All freshmen, Fisher said, are required to pay ahead for a semester of meals. Money not used within the semester is not reimbursed and cannot be carried over for future semesters.
Before the Hurricane native left Morgantown for the holidays, following his first semester of final exams, Fisher took his idea to the Summit Hall grab and go food managers. Grab and go is a quick alternative to a sit-down meal in a dining hall.
“I said I need to place a fairly large order. They said, how large. I had a couple boxes with me and they said let’s see what we can do. I just started ordering a whole bunch of food,” explained the future marketing major.
And, he didn’t go alone. He talked his friend, Noah, into joining the mission.
“He was another one that was going to have extra meal swipes. We were both going home. I said why don’t you just use your leftover meal swipes and we’ll go get all this food and take it and then we’ll go home. He said it sounded like a great idea so he helped me,” recalled Fisher.
They took about 100 sandwiches to the Bartlett House, a non-profit organization that serves homeless men and women in Monongalia County.
“I always like helping other people doing whatever I can to assist others,” Fisher said. “I guess I attribute that to my parents just raising me right and making sure that I always feel like I have to do the right thing.
Statistics as far back as 2009-2010 show Bartlett House served 40,992 on sight meals with the numbers of homeless people continually rising.