IMU manager named ‘Hero of Everyday Life’

Steve Mangan has worked on campus for only three years but has already left a significant imprint on the Bloomington community.

Mangan, general manager of Indiana Memorial Union Dining Services, was recently honored by The Sodexo Foundation – the independent charitable arm of Sodexo, Inc., which operates the dining services at the IMU – as a “Hero of Everyday Life.” Mangan has overseen the donation of 15,000 pounds of food to the Hoosier Hills Food Bank and coordinated several canned food drives, collecting 7,300 pounds of canned food.

“For us, it’s just what we do,” Mangan said. “That’s the nature of the whole award is that we’re just going about things quietly.”

Mangan is a volunteer on the board of directors for Hoosier Hills Food Bank, which distributes food to about 90 agencies in Indiana. In Monroe County, they distribute to about 40, including Mother Hubbard’s Cupboard and the Community Kitchen of Monroe County, said Julio Alonso, Hoosiers Hills exective director.

“He’s been a great member of our board and very enthusiastic about the food bank and what we do,” Alonso said. “He’s someone who very much encourages the staff over there. He leads from the top down and sets an example.”

The Sodexo Foundation also gave each of the seven recipients of the award a $5,000 grant to the hunger-related charity of their choice. Mangan gave his to Hoosier Hills, which is putting the money toward its new warehouse.

“I was very pleased,” Alonso said. “It’s a great honor for Steve to be recognized in that way for the contributions that he has made for the food bank. Of course it’s very exciting for us to get the financial donation as well.”

Mangan isn’t the first IU employee to be honored with this award. Back in 2006, Maureen Brown, who was involved in the IMU and is now Sodexo’s district manager in Bloomington was also named a “Hero of Everyday Life,” paving the way for Mangan and his team.

“It was just natural to continue what we were doing and add on to that,” Mangan said.
The “Hero of Everyday Life” award not only encourages humanitarianism within the Sodexo company, but also brings its employees closer together.

“Fellow employees are really proud of their colleagues, who are recognized as ‘Heroes of Everyday Life,’” said Monica Zimmer, senior manager of Sodexo public relations, in a statement. “When you’re bestowed with such an honor, how could you be anything but proud of your coworker?”

Mangan and his wife traveled to Washington, D.C., to receive the award from the Sodexo Foundation. Seven other people from across the country were also recognized, as well as a crop of students who were given scholarships for actions they have taken against hunger.

“The event itself is huge,” Mangan said. “I had no idea what I was getting into.”

Despite all the efforts between Sodexo and Hoosier Hills, there is a huge shortage of food for the hungry right now, Mangan said. Hoosier Hills typically hands out about 17,000 pounds of food a month to its agencies, but they only have 7,000 on hand, Zimmer said.

“There is a dire need of products right now, it’s everywhere,” Mangan said. “You would just be totally amazed at how much need there is here.”

Mangan and his IMU team are doing everything they can, he said. Last year, they involved Burger King in a program that donated customers’ loose change to Hoosier Hills, and every year the IMU provides space for Hoosier Hills to hold its annual banquet. Mangan doesn’t plan on stopping there. He said he has lots of other plans in the works, for both the IMU and the Food Bank.

“We’re branching out a little bit, and supporting a lot of different organizations all the time with donations of either food or space or events,” Mangan said. “With some luck maybe we can get RPS involved.”