Food for Thought: Utilizing Food and Education to Improve Lives and Create a Hunger-free Community
Authors: Megan Maloof and Alexis Denley
Faculty Supervisor: Jessica Melilli-Hand, Ph.D., MFA
Abstract:
As part of the Poetry & Fiction service-learning course, we partnered with America’s Second Harvest of Coastal Georgia, a non-profit organization that strives to feed the hungry of south-eastern Georgia. They feed those who aren’t able to readily afford food for themselves. Second Harvest uses different programs to help those in need, such as Brown Bag for the Elderly, Grace’s Kitchen, Kids Cafe, Mobile Food Pantry, and Partner Distribution. During the time that we worked with Second Harvest, we spent time cutting flyers, folding pamphlets, stocking cans, etc. Before our service, we didn’t realize how many people in our community that need assistance in getting food to feed themselves and their families. Through service-learning, we have realized the importance of helping our community, and we believe that everyone should spend time helping those in the community. We used the experience that we gained from volunteering at Second Harvest to write short stories and poetry that related to hunger. Second Harvest and service-learning has opened our eyes to the way that everything is connected.
