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Berry College (Mount Berry, GA)
Hunger
& Homelessness Outreach, Programs, and Education
Summary
Berry College student leaders created Hunger & Homelessness Outreach,
Programs, and Education (HHOPE) as a coordinating entity to support the
Saturday Community Kitchen and other hunger-related programs. Students
serve as leaders, educators, and activists as they exchange a comprehensive
web of food resources that directly meet the needs of the impoverished
community, raise awareness regarding issues of poverty, and provide avenues
to eradicate hunger and homelessness.
The Practice
Given Berry College’s 100-year commitment to community and civic
engagement, BC students provide essential leadership for the College’s
response to hunger in its local community. Recognizing a clear community
need for weekend food resources, students tirelessly worked with the campus
administration, local faith-based organizations, and congregations to
identify how and where the hungry of the community could be fed on Saturdays.
In February 2002, the Berry College Saturday Community Kitchen officially
opened. To support the Saturday Community Kitchen, students established
Hunger & Homelessness Outreach, Programs, & Education (HHOPE)
-- a structured student-led organization designed to combat poverty and
to serve as a coordinating entity for this effort.
HHOPE is committed to fighting hunger and homelessness through direct
service to the Saturday Community Kitchen, education for the local community,
and activism. A committee representing each of these dimensions of HHOPE’s
mission meets weekly to plan and discuss the roles it plays in achieving
the organization’s desired outcomes. The service committee
provides staff for the Saturday Community Kitchen and organizes canned
food and clothing drives. Saturday Community Kitchen is managed and operated
by Berry College students. Student leaders coordinate volunteer assistance,
and various campus religious organizations, dormitories, athletic teams,
faculty/staff groups, and alumni have planned, prepared, and served the
noon meal on Saturday. The college’s food service division has implemented
a food salvage program on Fridays to provide food to be served at the
kitchen on Saturday. The Saturday Community Kitchen also receives clerical
and financial support from the College through the Bonner Center for Community
Service.
The education committee utilizes resources from
the National Coalition against Hunger & Homelessness to organize on-campus
presentations for college constituencies as well as community lectures
for middle and high students and church youth groups. Specifically, each
year in March, Berry College sponsors Hunger & Homelessness Awareness
Month. The education committee organizes a “Faces of Homelessness”
panel presentation where persons impacted by homelessness share their
life experiences with college students. The activism committee
is involved in letter-writing campaigns and initiatives to affect policy
decisions in the political arena. Also, the committee writes informative
press releases that address issues and policy concerns for both the campus
and local community newspapers.
Effectiveness
More than 100 impoverished people in the local community receive a warm
meal every Saturday for 52 weeks per year, a 300 percent increase since
the kitchen’s opening. Until the establishment of the Saturday Community
Kitchen, free community meals were served only on weekdays, leaving children
eligible for schools’ free lunch programs without food during weekends.
As a result of this success, the kitchen has been able to expand services
to include health fairs that serve more than 300 community members.
HHOPE has allowed student leaders to develop a myriad of leadership skills
and to experience first hand the effective impact relationship building
and teamwork can have on addressing and responding to community issues.
The Bonner Foundation recognized their successful, student-led initiatives
by awarding a $5,000 renewable grant to expand services to community members.
The grant calls for a commitment to strengthening the community network
supporting the kitchen and for the development of a reflective component
for all the kitchen’s stakeholders. The grant will also support
faculty and student leaders working together to provide health screenings
to community members at the Saturday Community Kitchen.
Resources
Review Berry College’s involvement in community service at the Chaplain’s
Office link to www.berry.edu.
Copies of the HHOPE student organization’s constitution are available
for review. Contact Laurie H. Chandler to have one forwarded to your institution.
Contact Information
Laurie H. Chandler, Director
The Bonner Center for Community Service
Berry College
P.O. Box 490042
Mount Berry, GA 30149-0042
Ph: (706)238-7885
Fax: (706)236-1726
lchandler@berry.edu
Susie C. Williams, Coordinator
Bonner Scholars Program
Berry College
P.O. Box 490042
Mount Berry, GA 30149-0042
Ph: (706)290-2690
Fax: (706)236-1726
scwilliams@berry.edu
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