Why Hunger is Important to Me
During the late summer of 2008 a massive economic recession hit - my dad lost his job. This was incredibly tough on our family. I had just started my freshman year of high school and I had to go on a free lunch program at school for a year, and eventually a reduced lunch after that. The summer of 2009, I went on a mission trip to inner city Washington DC, including parts of Anacostia. All week I along side my mother and several others in my youth group were serving various projects. On the last night of the trip, the church we stayed at had a free cookout for the community. My mother met a homeless man that was walking by and asked him if he wanted to come to our cookout. His name was Mr. Solomon, and he informed us he hadn't eaten in 2 days and needed food to take his medicine. Solomon told us he needed the medicine because he died two weeks ago, but was brought back to life in the ER. He carried with him a photograph of himself hooked up to IV's and all kinds of other hospital equipment. After the meal, we packed him some extra food, and sent him to the Salvation Army so he would have a place to sleep. The experience taught me some extremely important lessons. First, There are varying levels of food insecurity and as bad as I thought I had it there were people out there in need of more help. Second, providing a direct resource is better than providing money sometimes. Third, it is food that brings people together to be in community with one another. Though I never heard from Mr. Solomon after that night, this experience has stayed with me and is why I want to dedicate my life to being of service by providing food for all who hunger.
The Game Show
My service project is called Meal of Fortune, a gameshow where the coordinators from some of the local food programs are the contestants. There will be no losers - each contestant will receive funds for their program just by competing.
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In addition to the game my project aims to provide food educational material about campus. I want to help raise awareness of food insecurity and educate people on safe ways to handle food.
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The Food Programs
209 Manna MinistiresThe mission of 209 Manna Ministries is to provide food, toiletries, and school supplies for college students at Virginia Tech. Customers will be welcomed by open hearts, open minds, open arms, and open doors.
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Campus KitchensThe mission of The Campus Kitchen is to build upon food recovery work already being done in our dining halls, raise awareness about hunger issues in our region, and help connect more students with these important issues.
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Micah's BackpackThe mission of Micah's Backpack is to provide direct food assistance for children from low-income families. They aim to address food insecurity for youth by partnering with 9 Blacksburg schools.
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