Williams College Plays Role in Eliminating Hunger

During the first of the four year Target:Hunger program, Helen Harrison, Program Manager of Target:Hunger contacted Sadie Miller, a MACC Americorps VISTA volunteer at Williams College who serves as a representative of the Center for Community Engagement at Williams. Sadie, along with junior Kendall Newman, began participating in Target:Hunger community planning groups. And from there the magic was born.

Helen became involved in student organizing events, speaking at the Students for Social Justice’s Oxfam Hunger Banquet. Through the Target:Hunger meetings, the William College’s Center for Community Engagement began a partnership with Berkshire SHARE, a food cooperative serving low-income folks in the Berkshires that operates without adequate resources. Proceeds from the Oxfam Hunger Banquet, the Alumni Office’s tag sale, and other student fundraisers benefited Berkshire SHARE and many students began volunteering once a month on SHARE’s delivery day.

Williams College currently operates a WRAPS program – Williams Recovery of All Perishable Surplus – where unused food is rescued from the food commons and is distributed to local programs. Helen and Sadie, coupled with Mass. College of Liberal Arts (MCLA) VISTA volunteer Samantha Cesario and MCLA junior Ben Lamb, met to discuss the creation of an MCLA WRAPS program.

Helen agreed to act as a community advisor for the “Eliminating Hunger in the Berkshires” action group of the Berkshire Institute for Student Activism in November, 2006. The role allowed Helen to connect with student activists from MCLA, Williams College, Berkshire Community College, Southern Vermont College, and Simon’s Rock College. Her connections and guidance brought their organizing to a new level. The students plan to continue their work with Target:Hunger through a self-designed project where they will partner with Northern Berkshire Neighbors, which works with groups in low-income neighborhoods. The students plan to work in these communities to create monthly community meals and recipe swaps. The recipes will then be used to create a cookbook of healthy, easy, affordable dishes that are favorites of local people.

A grant to support community gardens for low-income folks in the Northern Berkshires was created through Target:Hunger community planning groups. Jennifer Munoz from REACH Community Health Foundation brought together Helen, Sadie, Debbie Rosselli from the North Adams Public Schools Service-Learning program, and Valerie Schwarz from the Berkshire Food Project (a non-profit created by Williams College students twenty years ago). Over the summer, Williams College students will act as garden mentors, recruiting gardeners to coordinate gardening projects, including planting, maintenance, and harvesting. The garden mentors will be supported in the community by REACH and Target:Hunger, and have their room, board, and living stipends provided through the Center for Community Engagement’s Community Scholar’s program.

During winter study, Williams College junior Elizabeth Gleason worked with Helen as an intern where she wrote a proposal for the North Adams Farmers’ Market to install an EBT (Food Stamp) machine, expand the marketing program, expand community involvement in the market, and plan for a “demonstration day” event (with trial EBT acceptance, entertainment, and special promotions) during the 2007 season. This was considered in early spring by the farmers who operate the market.

In addition, Sadie helped Helen connect with Paula Consolini, who has conducted three poverty simulations with Williams College students, faculty, and community. Helen, two of her colleagues from The Food Bank, and two Target:Hunger activists who have experienced poverty served as informants, advisors and “actors” for the simulations, which about 60 Williams College participants took part in.

With Sadie and Helen’s encouragement and support, three Williams College students are now in the exploratory stage of starting a Community Supported Agriculture (CSA) farm in the Northern Berkshires that would provide a portion of its shares at a discount, and have produce available for pick-up at accessible locations. The Food Bank is hoping to leverage grants and other supports to launch this project and others by 2009, and hope to sustain this work through encouraging future leaders in food justice.