Where do you turn when you are stuck on campus, broke and absolutely famished? KU students have come to rely on the @FreeFoodAtKU Twitter account! This account shares the hottest spots to receive free food all around Lawrence. Who is the mastermind behind this account, you ask? Alek Joyce is a Lawrence original, double majoring in journalism and business. When he was chosen to serve his sophomore year as Student Senate’s Executive Secretary in May 2011, his days on Jayhawk Blvd. became longer and his pockets became smaller the more he was forced to eat on campus.
After working all summer in the Student Senate office, Joyce and his co-worker Kris Velasco found themselves sitting around together complaining of the prices for food on campus. These two tried to figure out a way to get around these hefty prices when Joyce asked, “Where’s the free food? If only there were a Twitter account that told us where the free food was.” And so it was born. Joyce jumped to a computer and created the account. He began by following all of his current friends at KU as well as other large campus accounts. The tweets began slow with only food related tweets but have now grown to include free swag being handed out on campus. Occasionally, followers can read promotions supporting some great causes. No, they may not be free, but Joyce spins 140 characters to make it worth spending a couple bucks.
As the current Student Senate Outreach Director, member of Alpha Tau Omega, Alternative Breaks Student Senate, member of The Big Event exec team and recent co-founder of KU’s Life Raft Debate program, it’s a wonder Joyce can keep up with this account. Yes, he’s doing it alone since Velasco is studying abroad, but he is on the lookout for the account’s successor. He’s looking for a young, involved, witty human and I think we can all agree it’s going to take a pretty special person to fill his shoes. He hopes that by the end of the school year, he will have identified that someone to be introduced to the @FreeFoodAtKU dynasty.
Do you follow @FreeFoodAtKU and miss the updates? Request to get their tweets sent directly to your phone so you don’t miss out on these money saving events!