TCNJ

18 The College of New Jersey Magazine Dumhart was the first in his extended family to go to college, and he proved to be an exceptionally industrious worker, running the dish room with only his roommate after persuading Allen that the other dishwashers were just extra baggage. After graduating, he landed back at Trenton State, working as a residence hall director and studying for a master's in education. Steve Matejka, the director of the Lakeside residence halls at the time, was similarly industrious, and the two of them soon became entrepreneurial partners — investing in several thousand of the twistable plastic ice-cube trays that were then new to the market and selling them on weekends at the Englishtown Auction flea market, and running winter-break trips for students to Florida. In the fall of 1981, Dumhart and Matejka had an idea that grew into a business that lasted for decades. Matejka was the advisor to the Resi- dence Hall Association on campus, which wanted to raise some money. What about care packages — fruit baskets with notes from home that parents could have delivered to dorm rooms during final exams? "The notes were pretty cool," says Matejka. "You know, 'Good luck on finals, we miss you, here's a picture of your dog.' We did a mailing to about 2,000 people and we got over 1,100 orders." They tried it again at the end of the spring semester. "We thought maybe it was just the holidays driving it," Dumhart says. "But parents still bought in the springtime. That's when we knew we had a real business." The two men worked out of the apartment where Matejka and his wife, NancyLee '81, lived, and started Campus Fundraisers. They sold packages that included fruits, candy, and nuts in wicker baskets, and then expanded to other campuses: University of Delaware, Kean College, Above: Once Mercer Street Friends moves into the new warehouse, available racking space for storing food will increase by 30%. Facing page: Donna Jones, a volunteer, helps pack food bags for the community.

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