Consider the amount of food the Dining Hall serves in a day. What about a week? A month? Now imagine the Dining Hall was suddenly shut down for a month, and none of the students it served could afford to buy food. It would be a crisis, very similar to the current crisis faced by members of Poweshiek County, as the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) delays Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) benefits for the month of November, citing the government shutdown as the cause. In fact, the number of Poweshiek County residents served by SNAP and the number of college students served by the Dining Hall are very similar. In other words, the amount of food the Dining Hall serves each month is the same as the amount of food that must be crowdsourced to support SNAP recipients this month.
To feed every member of our community requires everyone to pitch in where they are able. The donation of a single dollar, a single food item, an hour of your time, or a shared social media post can make the difference of whether someone eats today. If you can contribute, there are several campus and community organizations that have launched campaigns, as well as several organizations with ongoing campaigns.
Donate funds, non-perishable food or personal hygiene items to the Grinnell Food Coalition Emergency Fundraising Campaign, Mid-Iowa Community Action (MICA), or the Grinnell Student-Athlete Advisory Committee. Even if you can’t donate, you can still help! Volunteer with the Food Recovery Network or MICA to help distribute food throughout the community. Even sharing Grinnell Food Coalition’s call to action with your network on Facebook, Instagram, or LinkedIn can make an impact by bringing others to the cause.
We must also maintain the sustainability of this effort. If you are only able to make a one-time donation, volunteer opportunity, or social media post, that still makes all the difference. However, if you can provide recurring donations, volunteer support or social media engagement, this will help to ensure our community can eat for the entire month, not just today.
Whatever support you provide, know you make an impact. Let’s care for our community!