The Franciscan Center for Social Concern at St. Bonaventure University has been awarded $14,500 by the United Way to benefit the Warming House and Bona Buddies.

For Alice Miller Nation, director of the FCSC, the grant is even more meaningful because students made the case for the award before the United Way’s allocations committee.

“Because both the Warming House and Bona Buddies are student-run programs, there is no one better than students to make the presentation,” Miller Nation said. “They do their homework and prepare. In addition to running much-needed programs in our community, having students taking the lead in grant presentations is a great experience for them.”

The Warming House, the nation’s oldest student-run soup kitchen in downtown Olean, received $10,000. Bona Buddies, a youth mentoring program where one-to-one relationships are established between SBU students and local children ages 5 to 15, received $4,500.

“We are so appreciative of all our community partners, including the United Way and the many not-for-profits they work with on a regular basis,” Miller Nation said.

The Warming House continues to serve many meals each month and the demand shows no signs of slowing down. The Warming House served 200 more meals in May than it did in April.

“The need continues to be great as our neighbors struggle with food insecurity during these challenging times,” Miller Nation said.

Youths in the Bona Buddies have the opportunity to come to campus each week, play games or do homework with their SBU mentor, and participate in an SBU club activity.

This academic year, some of the Bonaventure teams and clubs that met with the buddies included women’s rugby and men’s basketball, Active Minds, Medical Emergency Response Team, and the Biochemistry Club.

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About the University: The nation’s first Franciscan university, St. Bonaventure University is a community committed to transforming the lives of our students inside and outside the classroom, inspiring in them a lifelong commitment to service and citizenship. St. Bonaventure was named the #5 regional university value in the North in U.S. News and World Report’s 2022 college rankings edition.