Students fight hunger and poverty one lunch at a time
| January 25, 2006 | |
 What can one person do to fight world hunger and poverty? How about this – eat lunch!But not just any lunch. On Wednesday, Jan. 25, more than 100 students, faculty and staff from the Carolina School of Public Health and our South Campus neighbors chowed down on a “Hunger Lunch” of beans, rice and cornbread. The price of this simple meal was only $3 – but the proceeds will go a long way next summer toward alleviating hunger and poverty in a community in the developing world.
The Hunger Lunches, which are served about every two weeks at the Michael Hooker Research Center, are sponsored by Nourish International, along with the Carolina School of Public Health’s Student Union Board and Nutrition Coalition. The next chance to participate will be Wednesday, Feb. 15. Food will be served from 11 a.m. to 2 p.m., either on the patio or in the Atrium, depending on the weather. At least $2 from every lunch goes to support international projects to raise living standards for communities in dire need, the group promises. “The monetary contributions of each student are vital to the effectiveness and success of the project,” said Alice Lee, a Hunger Lunch director of Nourish International and a UNC international studies student. “When a student buys a Hunger Lunch, those three dollars go a long way.”
A native of India, Citineni moved to the United States when she was 10. She attended the N.C. School of Science and Math, then Riverside High School in Durham. She started Nourish International when she was a business school undergraduate at UNC. In the fall of 2001, while browsing the Internet, she was shocked to learn how many people die each day from hunger. She resolved to do something to help. By 2003, she had started Nourish International with a group of other UNC students and they were raising money by selling inexpensive meals to students, faculty and staff across campus. Now, they serve the simple meals about every other Wednesday, both at the School of Public Health and in the Pit, near the center of campus.
“We want to make a program that lasts,” said Citineni. “We are not about crisis aid. We want students to have a project with a long term impact, educational component and empowerment to give the community ownership.” In 2003, the project’s first year, the Hunger Lunches raised over $7,500 for a nutrition house building project in the slums of India. The next year, Hunger Lunches raised about $8,000 to fund an irrigation system project in Bolivia. “It is evident that our Hunger Lunches have been successful,” said Lee. “The total amount of money raised has risen with each new year.” Even though other events and avenues are used to raise funds, such as “Swing 4 Students,” a dance fundraiser scheduled for 8 p.m. Jan. 28 in UNC’s Great Hall, Hunger Lunches raise the most money.
“We have high hopes for future lunches,” said Lee, “and we will continue to set higher goals for subsequent years.” Other Hunger Lunches will be served Feb. 15, Feb. 22, March 8, March 22, March 27, April 5 and April 19 from 11 to 2 p.m. at the School of Public Health’s Michael Hooker Research Center and in the Pit. Lunches also will be served in the Pit Feb. 2 and Feb. 27. Citineni is working to expand the Hunger Lunch program beyond UNC. She’s talking with students at Duke University and at N.C. State University about starting similar programs there. “You are getting more than the value of $3… It’s the value of a person,” said Citineni. “This person [in need] could be my father, mother or uncle. Every person has value and we have a responsibility toward them. When [students] buy the lunch, it’s giving back to what is going to last to a community in need.” For more information on Nourish International, visit www.nourishinternational.org. To volunteer to help with the meals, contact Christine Tenekjian at ctenek@email.unc.edu. For further information please contact Ramona DuBose either by phone at 919-966-7467 or by e-mail at ramona_dubose@unc.edu. |
“It’s more than a lunch,” said Sindhura Citineni, founder and director of Nourish International, which is part of the UNC Campus Y. “It’s much more. It’s the way to unleash the power of college students, giving them the tools necessary to make a tangible difference.”
UNC students use the money raised to fund projects that will help impoverished communities develop resources to improve their standard of living. The projects must be ones that can be sustained by the local community. Students in Nourish International identify projects that they want to support, host Hunger Lunches and other events to raise money, and then travel abroad to implement those projects.
Volunteers from the Schools of Public Health and Medicine help serve the lunches. The food is catered by Triangle Residential Options for Substance Abusers (TROSA), an organization in Durham that provides working opportunities for individuals in drug rehabilitation.
