Members of the Pay it Forward Team outside of the NNEMAP food pantry. Credit: Courtesy of Kelsea Brown
Ohio State’s student cohort Pay It Forward has once again dedicated the month of November to addressing a vital issue — food insecurity.
Pay It Forward’s annual Battle Against Hunger initiative combines educational sessions, a campus-wide food drive competition — food donation bins will be scattered around campus throughout the month — and local service opportunities to help raise awareness and provide direct support to the campus community.
The initiative is advised by Kelsea Brown, a second-year graduate student in public administration and graduate teaching associate for Community and Civic Engagement in the Office of Student Life.
Brown said the reasoning behind making this effort a month-long initiative is due to the desire for a sustained impact, unlike their “one-off days of service.”
“It allows us to bring more awareness to an issue that impacts us all — whether we realize it or not — and just gives us an opportunity to raise more awareness about it,” Brown said.
Dave Isaacs, university spokesperson, said the timing of the event holds special significance.
“November is also a very good month for this,” Isaacs said. “It’s associated with gratitude and Thanksgiving exactly. By putting it in this month, it is at a time when people are thinking about [food insecurity].”
Isaacs also said the university has several initiatives that work towards combatting this issue.
“Food insecurity is an important subject, especially for the university, and there are a number of initiatives that are going on all throughout the university,” Isaacs said. “This is an area of focus in terms of trying to utilize the strength of the university, to make a difference in the lives of all people in the state.”
Brown said last year’s effort ended up being a huge success and a source of pride for the Battle Against Hunger team.
“What I’m most proud of from Battle Against Hunger last year is the amount of food we were able to donate,” Brown said. “We were able to collect over 1,500 pounds of canned goods that we were able to pack up and get sent out.”
This year, Brown said they’ve set their goals even higher. The initiative is hoping to increase the number of participating organizations from 15 to 20 and collect 2,000 pounds of food, an increase from 1,500.
She said all of the donations received will be given to the newly established Monda Student Resource Center, which houses the Buckeye Food Alliance and a built-in food pantry to support Ohio State students.
Brown said another key component for the Battle Against Hunger initiative is education, with a series of sessions planned throughout the month. She said the goal of these sessions is to inform students about often overlooked issues within their community.
“A lot of students may not know how food insecurity impacts Columbus or Ohio State,” Brown said. “They may not be aware of how prevalent it is. It’s just something that we like to keep everybody informed about, because this is our community.”
Some of the confirmed speakers for this year’s educational sessions include Dr. Brian Roe, Van Buren professor and associate chair in the Department of Agricultural, Environmental and Development Economics, who will address food waste and the implications of food security, and Nithya Duddella, a third-year in biochemistry and cohort member, who will provide campus resources and host a virtual session on how to get involved.
The first scheduled session is set for Nov. 14 with more updates to be found on the Battle Against Hunger website.
One of the educational sessions from last year alone saw 40 students attend, with “people piling out of the room,” according to Brown.
“It was really rewarding to be able to see all the hard work come to fruition,” Brown said.
The team also includes a service component to keep the effort going with a local service trip booked with Mid-Ohio Food Collective in the first weekend of December, Brown said.
The highlight of the month for the initiative is the campus-wide food drive, framed as a competition among student service organizations. Brown said the organization that collects the most donations will receive an award, raising the stakes of the competition — last year, the reward included $100 in resource room credit and a social media shoutout.
Brown said the competitive nature of the event has proven to be a highly effective strategy in increasing donations.
“Students feed off a competition, you know, they thrive on winning and being successful,” Brown said. “So that is the plan — to do it again this year and make sure it’s a competition.”
Students can find donation bins at locations such as the Ohio Union information desk, residence halls — such as Drackett Tower, Morrill Tower, Park-Stradley Hall and Taylor Tower — as well as recreational facilities such as the RPAC, ARC, Jesse Owens North and South and the North Recreation Center.
All canned goods and non-perishable items are welcome and Brown said she urges all students to participate, emphasizing that this initiative is about supporting one another.
“Donate — honestly, donations mean everything,” Brown said. “We’re supporting each other as students, as peers, so I feel that that would be the most important thing that I can share. The best way for [students] to show up is to donate and participate. Food insecurity doesn’t go away, even though November will end eventually … even though it’s just a month-long initiative, food insecurity is a year-long issue.”
