A Better Tomorrow Starts Today!

Your dining experience is more than great food just like sustainability is more than simply saying we are going “green.”  At Blugold Dining by Sodexo, we understand the best way to have a better today and a better tomorrow is to be proactive for your health, for your community and for your planet.

Sodexo’s Better Tomorrow site will help you find information and learn more about making smart, healthy choices in all three of these areas. Explore it and check back often for updates because a better tomorrow starts today!

 

Helping Hands food drive collects & donates over 4,000 lbs. & $258 in cash

Blugold Dining wishes to thank all UW-Eau Claire students, faculty and staff as well as members of the Eau Claire community for participating in our Helping Hands Across America food drive on Tuesday, November 13. 

As a result of everyone’s effort, over 4,000 pounds of food and $258 in cash was collected and donated to the Feed My People Food Bank in Eau Claire. This was a huge success as our event is one of the largest food drive donations they receive!

A special thank you goes out to the five campus groups that participated and collected over 160 pounds of food and $115 in cash! Congratulations to the top campus group which was the V-Day Campaign student organization collecting almost 16 pounds per person.

We’d also like to thank our entire Sodexo Family for their hard work supporting this project, and continuous dedication to creating exceptional dining experiences for you here on campus.

More than 14,500 individuals each month rely on food received from programs supplied by Feed My People Food Bank with 39 percent of them being children. With our campus donation, Feed My People will be able to provide 4,370 meals to our neighbors in need.

We look forward to another great Helping Hands Across America event next year to benefit our local community!

Blugold Dining's Helping Hands food drive will benefit Feed My People Food Bank

Blugold Dining and the University of Wisconsin-Eau Claire campus community are coming together to fight hunger in the Chippewa Valley in support of Sodexo’s nationwide food drive effort, Helping Hands Across America.

The Helping Hands Across America food drive slated for Tuesday, November 13, will raise funds for the Feed My People Food Bank. This feel-good event is designed to bring the community together to raise awareness for the problem of hunger that affects thousands of residents in the Chippewa Valley and millions of Americans nationwide.

“Blugold Dining is committed to raising hunger awareness, a problem that affects thousands right in our backyard,” said Christian Wise, general manager of Blugold Dining. “We’re coming together to provide much-needed food to those suffering from hunger in our community and we hope this effort will help get more people involved in this important cause.”

In 2011, Blugold Dining collected and donated $140 and more than 3,300 pounds of food, and hopes to collect even more this year. All of the food items collected on the UW-Eau Claire campus will help senior citizens, single parents, the working poor, the homeless, the mentally ill and others in need throughout the Chippewa Valley.

Students, faculty and staff are encouraged to collect food as a residence hall, department or class project. As a special incentive for group participation, the top group donating the most food per person will receive $150 worth of Catering from Blugold Dining. Registration information is available online.

Donations from the community are also encouraged. Those wishing to contribute may drop off their donations in the east lobby of Davies Center, opposite the Service Center, from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. on November 13.

Blugold Dining is serving up local meats at UW-Eau Claire

Through an innovative partnership, Blugold Dining has started to consistently serve meat products that have been raised and processed locally within Wisconsin. They have cultivated a relationship with Crescent Meats of Cadott, Wisconsin and have been extremely satisfied with their products.

The partnership was inspired by one of the new food concepts in the new W.R. Davies Student Center. The Blu Flame Grill serves the UWEC community traditional grill favorites while emphasizing local meats. All hamburgers are prepared using the local product from Crescent Meats, as well as some other entrees served in Davies Center.

Due to the popularity among students, faculty and staff, Blugold Dining is excited to state that the local meat has replaced non-sustainable burgers at the campus cafeteria (Riverview Café) which serves upwards of 7,500 meals a day. “The students here at the university have been requesting locally sourced food selections, and we have been able to provide that through this great relationship,” said Christian Wise, general manager of Blugold Dining.

Blugold Dining’s relationship with Crescent Meats has also been a positive shift for sustainability initiatives. “This is the first time that these venues have utilized closely-sourced meats with such frequency,” said Wise. “It is truly amazing to know that these items offered in our dining centers are raised, processed, prepared, and consumed right here in Wisconsin.”

Crescent Meats is a family owned and operated full-service meat processing plant and butchery less than 30 miles from Eau Claire. They are proud to provide meat from animals raised in humane conditions and fed high quality feeds. Even though Wisconsin has one of the highest rated state meat inspection services in the nation, Crescent Meats’ standards are higher—their meat is 100 percent free of any hormones, growth promoting implants, additives, or chemicals.

Chanda from Marketplace wins the Sodexo Experience Award

We are excited to announce Chanda as our Sodexo Experience winner this month! The Sodexo Experience is a program that has recently been implemented to promote and recognize top-notch customer service. Chanda is a cashier in Marketplace and was nominated by Laura Karker and the rest of the Sodexo Management Team.

Chanda, has been a frontline employee for a little over seven years. She does an outstanding job as a cashier in our retail areas and knows our guests by name. She always knows all our weekly specials and always communicates these to customers and clients. When our guests have a question and she doesn’t know the answer, she makes sure to find out the answer for them or get back to them.

Her commitment not only to the eight simple rules, but to the Sodexo team, shows through in her interactions with management, colleagues and guests. Chanda makes sure to make all of our guest feel welcomed every time they visit our dining locations.

Manager comments supporting Chanda:
From Kathy Rogers, Marketing Manager - Chanda is truly a shining star down in Marketplace. She is constantly greeting our guests and fellow employees by name with a warm smile and a friendly hello. I personally have received so many wonderful comments from both clients and customers about how helpful, friendly and delightful Chanda is.

From Laura Karker, Retail Manager - I am always getting compliments from guests on what a great job she does and that she is a great addition to our team in the Davies Center. Also, Chanda has been recognized by our student Dining Committee for her outstanding customer service.

Tami K. wins the Sodexo Experience award

We are excited to announce Tami K. as our Sodexo Experience winner this month! The Sodexo Experience is a program that has recently been implemented to promote and recognize top-notch customer service. Tami is a cook in The Terrace kitchen and was nominated by the Supervisor and Management Team.

It is often a challenge for our guests to see the contributions shown by those in the “back of the house.” Often, most of the praise goes to our frontline employees. However, her commitment to doing the job well is reflected on the quality of the food we serve to our guests in the Terrace on a daily basis.

Tami is extremely hard working and dependable. Every day when she punches in she accomplishes as much as she can. Her intrinsic work ethic is far above what is asked of her. Her work is consistent and she maintains a steady pace. She also tries to keep her work area neat, and she always leaves it cleaner then how she found it.

It's hard to tell when she is having a bad day, because Tami doesn't spend much time complaining. She is committed to her job, and takes initiative to make sure that everything gets prepared on time. When called upon to go above and beyond she just nods her head and makes it happen. She is always willing to stay late, and has even brought in a lamb to show the daycare we cook for on her day off.

All of the managers and supervisors that work with the Terrace kitchen staff agree that Tami is a wonderful asset to the team. They also state that she’s never hesitant to help out where she is needed—even if it’s not one of her specific responsibilities.

It is obvious that Tami takes ownership and initiative of her job tasks, as well as provides a solid example for her coworkers. She’s a team player and we are happy to have her as part of our Sodexo team. Her contributions are immeasurable and we are pleased to recognize her as our campus winner.

Tami K. with her Manager, Mark Stanton and Supervisor, Hans Hinke.

Soup & Bread Night raises more than $700 for local food bank

We are very proud of and would like to thank the students on the Dining Committee for hosting such a smooth and successful Soup & Bread night alongside our staff! Check out the news release below published by the University for more details:


EAU CLAIRE — University of Wisconsin-Eau Claire students raised more than $724.50 for Feed My People, the only food bank in west central Wisconsin, through the Blugold Dining program's recent Soup and Bread Night initiative.

Students selected soups, breads and beverages to replace the usual evening meal in Riverview Café of Hilltop Center, which was served by volunteers from a number of student organizations and members of the Blugold Dining committee. The Feb. 29 event was attended by 483 people and Blugold Dining will donate $1.50 per person — the event's savings in food and labor costs — to Feed My People Food Bank. A pizza party was offered as an incentive to the residence hall floor that had the highest attendance at the event, and the winner was the first floor of Oak Ridge Hall with over 30 percent participation.

Emily Moore, executive director of Feed My People Food Bank, will accept the donation at a Blugold Dining committee meeting in April.

Feed My People distributes donated food to more than 85 agencies serving senior citizens, single parents, the working poor, the homeless, the mentally ill and others in need throughout the Chippewa Valley. About 4 million pounds of food is distributed each year to hunger relief agencies in 14 counties. More than 14,500 individuals each month — 39 percent of them children — rely on food received from programs supplied by Feed My People.

Soup and Bread Night has been an annual tradition at UW-Eau Claire since 1995. The Blugold Dining program is administered by the University Centers.

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Blugold Dining employees support St. Jude with over $1,000

Last week over $1,000 was donated to the St. Jude’s Children’s Research Hospital thanks to the employees of the Blugold Dining team. We are excited to announce that our team became a Partner in Hope during B95’s 11th annual Country Cares for St. Jude Kids Radiothon.

For about a year and a half, Blugold Dining has participated in an employee program called Jeans Day for Charity. Every Friday our employees are invited to help out a charity by donating $1 to the fund in order to wear jeans while working. Participating staff members wear a sticker that acknowledges their charitable donation.

The charity was not chosen until the wonderful folks hosting the Radiothon touched our hearts. The Jeans Day fund had been growing since December with $525 collected. In an effort to make our dollars stretch even further, we utilized B95’s limited-time matching program for a grand total of $1,050 being donated to St. Jude’s Children’s Research Hospital.

On Fridays when you see our Blugold Dining staff wearing jeans, know that it’s for a good cause. We would like to thank each and every participant in our Jeans Day employee program for their support and generosity.

Some of the past charities Blugold Dining has supported include: the Eau Claire and Chippewa County Humane Associations, Bolton Refuge House, The Community Table and the Salvation Army's Adopt-a-Family program.

About St. Jude
St. Jude is unlike any other pediatric treatment and research facility. Discoveries made there have completely changed how the world treats children with cancer and other catastrophic diseases. With research and patient care under one roof, St. Jude is where some of today's most gifted researchers are able to do science more quickly.

St. Jude researchers are published and cited more often in high impact publications than any other private pediatric oncology research institution in America. St. Jude is a place where many doctors send some of their sickest patients and toughest cases. It's a place where cutting-edge research and revolutionary discoveries happen every day. They've built America's second-largest health-care charity so the science never stops.

All patients accepted for treatment at St. Jude are treated without regard to the family's ability to pay.

Join us for Soup & Bread Night!

 

Wednesday, February 29 from 4:30 p.m. - 7:30 p.m. in Riverview Cafe (with late-night dinner following at 8:00 p.m.)

Students have selected soups, breads and beverages to replace the usual evening meal. The meal will be served by volunteers from a number of student organizations, and members of the Blugold Dining Committee. All Savings in labor and food costs will be donated to the Feed My People Food Bank.

Soup Selections:

• Chicken Dumpling
• Chicken Wild Rice
• Tomato Basil
• Chili

The cost for Soup and Bread night is $4 for everyone. Due to the charitable nature of this event, we can only accept: Declining Balance, Blugold Dollars, University Diners Club, credit cards and cash. Unlimited entry via the All Access Meal Plan & Dining Deluxe meal plans will not be accepted.

You spoke. We listened.

Last semester we distributed a survey to students and staff living in residence halls on upper campus. This survey was specifically designed to gather feedback about the Hilltop Center Food Court on upper campus.

There was an overwhelming response that the hours were not convenient for those wishing to dine there. Therefore, we have implemented new hours for the Spring semester which include opening earlier and closing later.

The following are the new Hilltop Center Food Court Hours.

SubConnection, Taco Bell and Freshens:
Sunday – Thursday | noon – 10 p.m.
Friday & Saturday | noon – 8 p.m.

Squawkers:
Sunday – Thursday | 4 p.m. – 10 p.m.
Friday & Saturday | 4 p.m. – 8 p.m.

Hilltop Center Food Court C-Store:
Sunday – Thursday | 10 a.m. – 10 p.m.
Friday & Saturday | 10 a.m. – 8 p.m.

We asked, you said, we did.
We hope you enjoy and take advantage of these new hours!