Oxford pantry inches toward $1M finish line with donations from Greek 5K

The race started not with a bang, but with a classic “On your marks, get set, go!” from junior Claire Drew, Panhellenic Council’s vice president for service and philanthropy.

$1,500 in proceeds from a 5K race hosted on Saturday, Oct. 19 by Miami University’s Greek Tri-Council will help fund a new building for Talawanda Oxford Pantry and Social Services (TOPSS).

At the start of the race, participants dashed from the Tri Delt Sundial toward the radio tower on South Oak Street before turning left on the sidewalk.

Megan McDonnell, 16, tucked herself behind the first row of runners in a sky blue TOPSS t-shirt that matched volunteers who directed the runners. She and her family were on campus for Family Weekend to visit her brother Jack, a first-year finance major.

The Oxford community extends beyond the town limits. McDonnell is from Illinois but was happy to support the TOPSS’s cause.

“It’s a good thing to run for,” McDonnell said.

TOPSS has planned to build a new location since last year. The new building is projected to cost $1 million, and TOPSS has pushed back the fundraising timeline since City Council approved its lease and building plans in February.

Ann Fuehrer, who took over the role as TOPSS director last July, said the delayed timeline for moving into the new location is partially because she devotes most of her time to being a full-time associate professor in the Women’s Gender and Sexuality Studies department at Miami.

Fuehrer will retire at the end of this semester. With more time on her hands in January, she plans to focus on relocating TOPSS in March 2020 to a shared space with the Family Resource Center. TOPSS will stay put for two to three years while fundraising for the new building continues.

For now, Fuehrer is a part-time director, but the trunk of her car is filled with hot dog and hamburger buns at all times.

“Managing the pantry takes a fair amount of time already even though we have excellent staff and volunteers,” Fuehrer said.

The Cliff Alexander Office of Fraternity and Sorority Life promised TOPSS it would raise $250,000 in a three-year time period to donate to the pantry. Although the money raised during last weekend’s 5k has not been counted yet, a family of four runners each paid $25 to participate while single runners paid $30.

Fuehrer said TOPSS usually has a surplus of money every year, but the new building project, which was originally slated to open in July 2020, is a larger undertaking since the building will also make room for expanding services.

The pantry serves 500 families per year who can shop every two weeks and take home food based on the size of their family.

At its meeting last week, Oxford City Council approved extending the lease for the new TOPSS location on College Corner Pike to allow the organization more fundraising time.

The pantry is currently housed on 400 W. Withrow Street, in a dilapidated white building rented from the Catholic Church and formerly owned by the Knights of Columbus.

Fuehrer said that a new space could improve the services offered by TOPSS.

“They need the support of education, information and figuring out how to adapt their own cultural preferences or food traditions to incorporate healthier ingredients,” Fuehrer said.

Published on the October 22, 2019 front page of The Miami Student newspaper