Project Starburst

Local food pantry receives university RSO support

(Left to right) Greg Brunner, Zach Ineson, Miranda Morearty and Margeaux Donavan raise funds and collect food for Project Starburst, a food pantry that assists hungry families and students in Big Rapids. Photo by: Kaitlyn Kirchner | Torch Photographer

The Ferris American Marketing Association (AMA) welcomed Project Starburst to Ferris State University by helping them gather non-perishable items.

Project Starburst is a food pantry based in Big Rapids and they collect food year-round. The Ferris AMA chapter assisted Project Starburst by collecting food on campus in hopes  to collect as many non-perishable items as possible to help the local residents of the Big Rapids community.

Project Starburst not only takes food, but also accepts clothes, hygiene items and other essentials.

Ferris AMA president and business administration senior Dominic Hasbrouck is one of the organizers of this project.

“Getting involved with my fraternity Lambda Chi Alpha and AMA helped me learn to work and see the real-world problems that are happening now,” Hasbrouck said.

Once all the items are collected, AMA will also go to assist Project Starburst by delivering the items to their State Street location in Big Rapids.

Ferris AMA is also conducting a fundraiser for Relay for Life, an event sponsored by the American Cancer Society to raise cancer awareness in communities around the United States.

Ferris advertising/integrated marketing communications junior Nicole Kish is the organizer who got the ball rolling putting it all together. Kish is also the Vice President of AMA.

“It wasn’t that stressful planning,” Kish said. “We were organized and knew it was coming up, we were only excited for it.”

Project Starburst helps nearly 3,600 families in Mecosta and Osceola counties, and the organization is hoping to expand that number in years to come.