An Indianapolis firm is donating a year's supply of fresh fruits and vegetables to a Delaware County nonprofit agency as a result of work being done by a group of Ball State University students.

Students from Ball State's Center for Information and Communication Sciences (CICS) are working with Indy Fruit Inc., an Indianapolis-based produce company, to analyze the company's e-commerce system.

In exchange for many hours of technology-based work, Indy Fruit is providing produce on a weekly basis to Christian Ministries of Delaware County, a social service agency that provides emergency assistance to people in need.

The gift is being made in lieu of payment for the work, a standard practice for CICS students, who have labeled the fresh produce "technology fruit." 

"CICS continuously provides real-work experience for our students," said Stephan Jones, an associate professor of information and communication sciences. "This also was a great way to give back to the community and support the incredible job that Christian Ministries does. It shows that technology indeed does work in wondrous ways."

The project began earlier this year when Indy Fruit was searching for assistance in upgrading its Web site. The company, which was founded in 1947, supplies fresh produce and other essential food products to Indianapolis area retailers.

Indy Fruit turned to Jones and his students on the advice of Rachel Stull, an information and communication specialist for the company, who is a graduate of Ball State's CICS program.

"By working with students from Ball State we have received expert assistance," she said. "This has been a win-win for Indy Fruit. The corporation has received an innovative, user-friendly Web site for its clients and was delighted to help a Delaware County community organization."

"Working with our alumni is a high benefit because the work shows students the variety of jobs that are available to them," Jones said.

As the project unfolded, Jones contacted Katie Frederick, director of the United Way Community Tech Link, to find a suitable organization that would benefit from regular deliveries of produce.

"We are extremely grateful that CICS has the connection with United Way Community Tech Link," said Marie Evans, Christian Ministries executive director. "Tech Link has provided a wide array of assistance on technology issues, but this is going beyond the norm.

"Many times we don't have fresh produce so this is a tremendous boost to the nutritional needs of clients," she said. "When we have extra, we share it with other food pantries, which extends the technology fruit even further."

(NOTE TO EDITORS: For more information, contact Jones at sjones@bsu.edu or (765) 285-1889. Frederickmay be contacted at kfrederick@uwctl.org or 288-5586. Stull may be reached at rstull@indyfruit.com.)