By Ty Sanges
Mike DeJoseph, a junior in the physical therapy program at Springfield College, is an active member of the campus community. Coming to Springfield from his hometown of Cheshire, Conn., DeJoseph is involved with various clubs and organizations, such as the Food Recovery Network, the Alternative Break Club, Ultimate Frisbee, and more. DeJoseph strongly advocates for the Food Recovery Network, and is fighting to end hunger for students on college campuses, while reallocating the hundreds of pounds of food thrown out every day.
The Student: What activities and clubs are you a part of on campus?
DeJoseph: “I’m involved in a couple of things. I’m a part of the Food Recovery Network here on campus. I’m a part of the Alternative Brake Club, the Humatics in Action Club, and also the Fellowship of Christian Athletes Club.”
The Student: What are some of the things that you’re trying to accomplish with these clubs?
DeJoseph: “My main focus right now is with the Food Recovery Network. We’ve just hit 8,000 pounds of historical food recovered ever since Rihanna Bacher started it in 2023. Now we are at over 8000 pounds. We recover food every Tuesday and Thursday from Cheney and bring it over to the Union. Then, we package it up into bags and bring it to the Pride Pantry and all that food goes to students on campus who suffer from some sort of food insecurity. It also goes to Rachel’s Table, which is a nearby nonprofit, and the food gets distributed to the community there. We’re continuing to try to grow that club. Something that we want to do is reach out to Western New England and American International College to see if they’d be open to the idea of establishing a chapter, because we know that the more food recovering network chapters that exist, that’s more food that’s not being wasted and more food that is going out to people that need it.”
The Student: Why do you think it’s so important to be so involved on campus?
DeJoseph: “I think it’s important because we’re the people that can make a change on this campus. Not only on this campus but in this world. We’ve got to be actively involved in our communities to make the change that we want to see and also to have an impact on the world that we want to create. So, it’s very important for us to be actively involved and take those steps towards reaching our goals with that.”
The Student: As a member of the Ultimate Frisbee Team, why did you join the team in the first place, and what’s your time with the team been like?
DeJoseph: “I actually started out doing cross-country and track. I joined ultimate frisbee my sophomore year and I joined because ultimate frisbee was something I was interested in, even just coming on campus and seeing the club on Club Sport Day. That interested me and I knew some people on the team and it looked like they were having so much fun with it.,, so I joined them last year. It’s been a great ride so far. I’m not currently playing right now because I ended up tearing my ACL playing,but that’s all right. We’re gonna recover, come back stronger. I’m determined to get there.”
The Student: How do you balance your schedule between your clubs, classes, and free time?
DeJoseph: “ I think trying to be organized and trying to just cut the waste from my day and try to get the things that I need to get done, done. That leaves time for these clubs to happen. I always try to time manage my day. I’m always walking around with a sticky note because I like to write down the things I want to get accomplished on that day. I also use Google Calendar to structure out my day and make sure I’m staying on top of things and making sure that I’m staying on task.”
The Student: What do you want to do in life once college is over?
DeJoseph: “Outside of this campus, I definitely want to get established. Becoming a physical therapist is something that I’d like to do. And also, with the Food Recovery Network outreach, if that starts to gain some traction, I’d love to continue to be involved within the organization and continue to make an impact. I’d love to share the word with not only college campuses, but also local businesses, local restaurants, and see what we can do to reduce food waste and redistribute that food towards folks that would need it.”