On Monday Feb. 8, Oakland University’s Golden Key reserved space in the Gold Rooms of the Oakland Center to crank out as many peanut butter and jelly sandwiches as possible in one hour these sandwiches were then donated to the Salvation Army’s Bed and Breakfast program in Detroit.

The event ran from 12 p.m. to 1 p.m. Students showed up for either a few minutes or the whole hour, armed with massive amounts of bread, peanut butter and jelly, to create an assembly line.

“The turnout was awesome, there were a lot more people that showed up than what we had expected,” Jessy Polishuk, Golden Key vice president, said. “Every table we had set up in the Gold Rooms had people at it making sandwiches.”

Golden Key has been putting on this philanthropy event annually for the past 15 years.  

Last year they made over 2,900 PB&J sandwiches that were donated to the Salvation Army.

“After we make the sandwiches, the Salvation Army comes to Oakland to pick them up and then they distribute them to homeless individuals in Detroit,” Polishuk said. “It’s super convenient that we can focus primarily on making the sandwiches and that the Salvation Army takes care of effectively distributing them to the people who need them.”

This year, Golden Key and their volunteers were able to make over 2,228 sandwiches with the support of sponsors including Meijer, who donated over $500 to go towards supplies for the events. Other sponsors include Kroger and Trader Joe’s who donated bread.  Various student organizations and administrative offices such as the Honors College, Alpha Lambda Delta, Chartwells, Theta Chi, WXOU and the Tutoring Center contributed too.

Golden Key gave away a pair of tickets, that were donated by the Student Program Board, for the upcoming Andy Grammer spring concert to the person that made the most sandwiches at the event.

Golden Key is an international honors society comprised of the top 15 percent of students at Oakland University with a main focus on academics, leadership and service. Invitations go out beginning sophomore year and, after a one-time fee, students are a member for life.

The organization puts on many other service events throughout the year to help the community.

One of the main philanthropies of Golden Key is SPARK a Change.  According to Golden Key’s national website, this organization focuses on improving the lives of students who are statistically likely to fail academically through literacy, education and real-world preparedness.

“We want to thank everyone for coming out and we’re always looking for other organizations for support and to collaborate on other service events,” Polishuk said.

For more information on Golden Key, find them on Facebook and GrizzOrgs.