It’s routine for Betsy Wood to visit all vendors during the annual Ellucian conference.
Ellucian is the company that owns Banner, which of course, is the system the university utilizes to perform a variety of recruitment, enrollment, budgetary and personnel management functions.
Wood, an application engineer in Missouri Southern’s IT Department, took part in the latest conference. Sure, this one was a virtual get-together due to the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic – but that didn’t stop her from sticking to her routine.
The result: a $250 donation to MSSU’s Lion Co-op.
The money came from the education-focused software company, SoftDocs, and was part of its campaign to assist college food pantries across the country.
All it took was a nomination – something Wood submitted during her routine visit.
“When I saw they were giving away $250 donations to campus food banks, I knew I had to nominate the Lion Co-op,” said Wood. “I think what the Co-op has been able to develop over the past few years is amazing.
The university’s food pantry, located inside the FEMA shelter next to the residence halls, is designed to help students, as well as faculty and staff on campus. Over the past year, it served approximately 40 students per week.
“This donation allows us to purchase perishable items for our clients,” said Dr. Andrea Cullers. “Eggs, milk, bread, yogurt and nutritious items are needed by students, but not something that people are able to donate.”
“I’m just so proud of the MSSU community for working to fulfill food needs for students and others in our Lion family,” added Wood. “I’m happy that my nomination was able to bring in this donation to help continue to fulfill that need.”