Central Michigan University

CMU dining services are served national honors

Friday, June 27, 2008

Topics in this story: Awards, Campus Dining

Students at Central Michigan University can learn some valuable public service tips while dining in a nationally recognized residential restaurant. CMU Campus Dining director Jane Wilsher received a national gold medal for her years of public service efforts, and CMU's Fresh Food Company was honored with a prestigious national residence hall dining award.

Ordinary Work Receives Extraordinary Honor
Wilsher was nominated for The Jefferson Awards for Public Service as an employee of ARAMARK, CMU's food service vendor. ARAMARK employees from across the country were recognized as part of the Corporate Champions program, which was created in 2006 to encourage volunteering in the workplace. Wilsher received the gold medal, the highest national honor for her volunteering efforts.

Wilsher, director of CMU's Robinson Residential Restaurant, has been an active volunteer for more than 12 years with the Isabella Community Soup Kitchen, was matched with her Big Brothers Big Sisters little sister, Cassie, five years ago and has served on the organization's Board of Directors for three years. She also has been coordinator of CMU Dining Service's Adopt-A-Highway program for two years and involved with Adopt-A-Family for eight years.

Accompanied by her mother and Cassie, Wilsher traveled to Washington D.C., June 17 where she was presented with her award on Capitol Hill.

"I'm just an ordinary person doing things I enjoy. I'm not in it for the recognition, but it is cool to receive this award," said Wilsher. "I felt privileged to meet the many wonderful individuals who have done so many great things for so many causes - it was humbling, to say the least."

Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis, U.S. Senator Robert Taft Jr. and Sam Beard founded the American Institute for Public Service in 1972 in order to establish a Nobel Prize for public and community service - The Jefferson Awards. The awards are presented on a national level to the "Who's Who" of outstanding Americans and on a local level to ordinary people who do extraordinary things without expectation of recognition or reward.

Fresh Food Company takes Silver
The Fresh Food Company received a silver award from National Association of College and University Food Service's Loyal E. Horton Dining Awards. The Loyal E. Horton Dining Awards honor the most successful innovations in menu engineering, special event planning, nutrition, merchandising and dining concepts.

Each entry was judged on menu selection, merchandising and presentation, marketing, nutritional soundness, and overall impression. Other key factors used in judging include variety, special dietary options, dining trends monotony breakers and menu format.

The Fresh Food Company offers dining in a modern setting where the food is prepared in front of its guests. It features seven stations including a bakery, international grill, Mediterranean kitchen, sandwich shop, American diner, Southern kitchen and produce market. It also boasts a brick-fired pizza oven, rotisserie ovens and 360 degree Mongolian-style grill.

For additional news from Central Michigan University visit its online newsroom at http://www.news.cmich.edu.