New to the Mount this semester, SGA is sponsoring a grocery shuttle, now named “Mount Mobile,” which drives students to Thurmont every Sunday. Six and twelve-seat vans are driven to Weis Markets at 6 p.m. where students will have around an hour to shop for the week’s essentials. Produce, snacks, bottled water and almost anything else a college student might need can be found there; along with the opportunity to escape campus for a little while.
Vans from Public Safety and the Center for Service provide the transportation. The drivers are all student volunteers, such as the SGA Vice President, the SGA Secretary, the SGA Vice President of Finance and a few more. All the drivers will be van-certified, securing the students’ safety on their way to and from Weis Markets.
According to the SGA Vice President, Maria Cary, this new service was implemented because the problem of the lack of transportation off campus arose. Many students do not have a way to get off campus. As much as students love the Mount, they can begin to feel trapped at the university. The food from Patriot is good and all, but occasionally students seek comforts they can only get elsewhere. According to Cary, Mount Mobile was born from the problem of “food insecurity.” Many students, mainly upperclassmen, are not on a meal plan that allows three meals a day, creating the need to either order or cook their own food. If they have no way to get off campus, how are they supposed to eat a healthy amount?
An interview with Johnathan Hutchinson (C’22), showed the students’ perspective of Mount Mobile. Hutchinson states, “I don’t trust those delivery sites,” referring to apps such as DoorDash and Uber Eats (as they have spotty reviews). Having no other way off campus, he looked for other ways to get the things he needed. The appeal to him was that the service is free of charge and timely and it suits other students because they can save on gas (as everyone knows how expensive that is right now).
SGA President, Andrew Truhan, spoke on last week’s first run, pleased with how the first trip went. He also presented a couple of changes on how to make this coming Sunday’s shuttle “more organized.” In the future, there will be an SGA officer at the setoff point ahead of time to create a line to promote more order.
Mount Mobile is being funded by the SGA’s budget, using what was left over from last year. According to Truhan, clubs did not use all the money that was allocated to them and that is where the money for the gas and the mileage of the vans comes from. He says for students to not worry, for the clubs that they participate in will not lose out with the emergence of Mount Mobile.
Some may wonder, why Weis Markets? SGA Secretary, Andrea Cabrera, informed that Weis Markets offer student discounts and coupons for future sales, so if they return, they’ll have the opportunity to save some money.
Ultimately, Mount Mobile provides a way to and from campus, a weekly escape from the same old dull routine. With the opportunity to stock up on the week’s necessities, who would say no?
Comments