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CHICAGO- Saint Xavier University Women's Basketball player, Brittany Jones, decided a few years ago that she would spend her extra meal money left over at the end of the semester her Freshmen year, on food that would be donated to Pro Labore Dei.  Whatever money the students do not use on their meal plan, they do not get back.  Most students will stock up on gatorades or candy and chips, but Jones decided she would put this money to better use.  

"My mom has always been a big influence on me to do community service and volunteer all the time," noted Jones, when asked how she came up with idea. "At the time we were involved with a non profit organization called Pro Labore Dei. They feed the homeless every saturday and monday morning in a liquor store parking lot in Robbins Illinois. We would go there and help out and get the kids there christmas presents and boots and things. That is when i got the idea that I wish instead of giving my money back to the school, I could donate it to a good cause."

Jones emailed Chartwells, the food service provider for Saint Xavier, and asked for a time to meet with them to discuss her idea.  "I said I did not want anything for free I just wanted him to order me some big hams and turkeys and I would purchase those from them and I would donate turkeys and hams to the homeless people at Pro Labore Dei.  They liked this idea and went as far as ordering me all of the fixings to make a good bagged lunch. They even let me buy it at sticker price and not an inflated price. Then they donated a lot of other stuff such as bread and milk and I was able to make about 150 bagged lunches for the homeless."

Many of Jones's teammates met up with her and helped her pack all the lunch bags.  Jones still continues to participate in many other service activities at Saint Xavier as well as in the community.

Click Here for information on Saint Xavier's women's basketball team.




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