Spartan Newsroom (https://news.jrn.msu.edu/tag/holidays/)
The Potter Zoo opened its 31st annual Wonderland of Lights. Family and friends came out to enjoy the lights, music and Christmas festivities throughout the zoo. The zoo is home to more than 30 animals that people were able to see in the decorative lights. The event was sponsored by 26 local companies in the Lansing area.
On campus known for it’s natural beauty, one MSU organization is making sure that beauty stays here and the MSU Surplus store is helping. Their big “Shop Everything” event gathered vendors all over campus for this holiday’s gift giving season. MSU Shadows, an organization at the event, re-purposes trees that are damaged on campus and creates chairs, oars, coasters, and all kinds of products. “We had trees that grow on campus, we loved them, people sat underneath them, there was marriage proposals underneath some of these trees, and they died,” Daniel Brown, coordinator of Wood Recovery Program, said. Normally, these dead trees would be used for mulch or as a bio fuel, but in this case, they’ll live again.
By BECKY McKENDRY
Capital News Service
LANSING – As food banks and food pantries across the state prepare for the challenges of the holiday season and talk of looming cuts to federal food benefits, there is one message they’d like you to carry well into the new year. People are hungry year-round. “The holidays are a busy time in volunteering and donating,” said Anne Schenk, senior director of advancement at Gleaners Community Food Bank of Southeastern Michigan in Detroit. “But sometimes people forget that we have these needs all year.”
Schenk said volunteers and donations tend to taper off in spring and plateau during the summer. That can be especially challenging, as donations are often in high demand when children are on spring and summer breaks – and not receiving meals at school.