The second annual Food Truck Frenzy, which brought food trucks to several different Hopkins-affiliated locations beginning last Thursday, ended on Tuesday with seven food trucks beset by crowds on the Beach during lunchtime.
The Food Truck Frenzy, organized by a committee of representatives from United Way as well as the Hopkins and Hopkins Medicine campaigns for the United Way, gave people on the University’s campuses in Baltimore the opportunity to buy lunch from a diverse array of vendors. Last year’s Food Truck Frenzy was the first time the University and Medicine campaigns have collaborated on an event.
In support of the United Way’s Access to Healthy Food Initiative, a portion of the fundraiser’s proceeds was donated to improve the lives of Maryland families facing poverty. The combined donations will be approximately 10 percent of the trucks’ sales.
The organizers estimated that about $5,000 was raised in the past week, compared to a total of about $3,000 for the cause last year.
“This Initiative is focused on addressing the growing problem of food insecurity in central Maryland. The Johns Hopkins Medicine United Way Campaign had a very successful hot dog lunch event every year, but the food was not always consistent with the idea of healthy food. So, the Committee thought about reaching out to the food trucks as a way to bring healthy food options to Johns Hopkins,” Jonathan Carter, program analyst at United Way, wrote in an email to The News-Letter.
The drive this week was only part of Hopkins’ $2.2 million commitment to the United Way of Central Maryland campaign.
“Johns Hopkins Institutions, year after year, are very supportive of United Way of Central Maryland and are always thinking up creative ways to engage the Johns Hopkins Community during their United Way Campaign,” Carter wrote. “The implementation of this year’s event would not have been possible without the guidance, support, and efforts of the entire Johns Hopkins Team.”
The idea for the Food Truck Frenzy partially arose from the United Way’s partnership with the Maryland Mobile Food Vending Association.
“Trucks are eager to participate to serve Hopkins community. It’s a win-win situation because the food trucks get greater visibility and possibly new business while the United Way campaign receives part of the proceeds,” Karen Salinas, director of communications for the Office of Work, Life and Engagement, wrote in an email to The News-Letter.
The president of the Maryland Mobile Food Vending Association, Damian Bohager, reached out directly to food trucks and registered the vendors at different locations.
Consisting of 30 food trucks at nine locations over six days, this year’s Food Truck Frenzy was considerably expanded from last year’s one-day event.
“Last year there were a lot of long lines, and there were a lot of complaints about that. We decided to increase the options and locations this year, and it seems that this has helped. The lines seem to be moving pretty quickly. And, having more options means that there will be something to fit everyone’s palette,” Meg Standing, senior relationship manager at United Way, said.
Since the continuing construction on Charles Street inhibited easy access to the Beach, food trucks were directed to enter campus by the O’Connor Recreation Center.
Food trucks at Homewood included Wheyich, Cruisin’ Cafe, The Jolly Pig, Kooper’s Chowhound Burger Wagon, Bistro Lunch Box, Darua and Miss Shirley’s Cafe. The vendors in attendance expressed contentment with the outcome of the event.
“We did really well today. It’s lucky that the weather is nice. We are a lot busier than we expected,” Parker Bell, who works for Miss Shirley’s Cafe, said.
Students were appreciative of the convenience food trucks brought.
“We are all so busy. There’s not really time to go too far out of campus during the day, so it’s nice to have Baltimore stuff come to our campus,” freshman Kylie Liu said.
Some wished that such events happened more frequently and for a wider range of time than Tuesday’s 11 a.m. to 2 p.m. span.
“I didn’t realize this was going on today, but it’s nice to get to spice up our dining options,” junior Chelsea Duff said. “It would be nice to do something like this at night, when there’s not a lot of other food. FFC isn’t that close to the library, and Nolan’s can be pretty far, and Levering is closed. So having something on campus weeknights would be convenient.”
While students were excited about the variety of food being brought to campus, many thought more could have been done to promote the drive in terms of publicity.
“This is the first time seeing anything like this on campus, and it’s great that there is more variety. I’m getting kind of sick of the FFC. It’s not the same food everyday, but it is a repeated selection,” freshman Preston Ge said. “However, I just happened to see this while I was walking toward Hodson. I had no idea about it beforehand. The advertising could have been done better.”
Similarly, most students were not aware of the Food Truck Frenzy’s fundraising goals.
“I saw the United Way sign in front of the library, but I don’t know much about it, except that they have a connection with the University,” sophomore Jesse Chen said.
While United Way representatives handed out postcards with information about the University’s United Way campaign, they were not distributed to students.
“Involvement in the campaign is not for students but for faculty and staff. While we do have other programs for students, this is not one of them. We don’t want to approach students and make them feel pressure to give. We’re handing out cards to people we think are faculty, and we want to remind people that the campaign is going on and to allow for a space to answer any questions. Also, this lets us show our thanks, and to say it in person” Standing said.
Overall, organizers felt that the event achieved its goals.
“The second annual Food Truck Frenzy has been fantastic so far! More food trucks are participating at more locations, and both the food trucks and the Food Truck Association are providing a generous donation in support of the Johns Hopkins United Way Campaign,” Carter wrote.
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