June 17, 2015- Posted by Joanne Amposta, an AmeriCorps VISTA member serving the Campus Kitchen at Virginia Tech.
If you were to ask me what I was doing after graduation one year ago, I would half-confidently say that I was going to be a doctor.
I say half-confidently because being a doctor was something that I had planned for myself ever since I was in high school, but I had just realized that there are just some things that I was not good at. For me, that was the MCAT.
…and surprise! Medicine did not end up working out, and back then I was incredibly afraid of the ambiguity of my future.
I felt lost, and which I thought was something that I was supposed to feel in the beginning of college, not the end.
While I was reevaluating my entire life, as many seniors do, I realized that every aspect of my college career revolved around the spirit of Ut Prosim (That I May Serve) in some way, shape, or form. As an undergraduate, I was involved with many student organizations.
I balanced my time serving various organizations and nonprofits as a sister of Chi Delta Alpha, spending time with my residents as an RA in the Residential College at West Ambler-Johnston, and helping out at reunions as a member of the Student Alumni Associates.
This community has given me so much love and support in the past four years, and I wanted to give back to it in the best way that I could.
So I decided that I wanted to take a victory lap at Virginia Tech (without the academics, of course) and pursue a year of service as an AmeriCorps VISTA through the VT Engage Community Partnerships Network after hearing about the opportunity from Amanda “Q” Qadado, the previous VISTA, and Perry Martin, who is now my supervisor.
VISTA projects are three years long, and VISTA members serve for one year of the project’s lifespan (although some members stick around for multiple years.) These assignments challenge us to create sustainable programs at a nonprofit or other organization to address social justice issues.
The idea is to implement a project that can run without a VISTA after the three-year term is up, to arrive at the point where the project is self-sustaining or can be transferred to staff or volunteers to run. My assignment relates to hunger relief in the New River Valley.
Ther
e have been three different VISTAs working on my assignment for the past two years. In my assignment’s first year Karlee Siepierski was instrumental in researching the Campus Kitchens Project and establishing connections with nonprofits in the New River Valley.
“Q” continued Karlee’s work through building relationships with VT Dining Services, creating a Hunger: A Call to Action month, and winning a $5,000 grant through a video competition hosted by the Campus Kitchens Project based in D.C. This grant helped bring a Campus Kitchen chapter to Tech.
As the third and the last VISTA for what is now officially known as the Campus Kitchen at Virginia Tech, it is my job to implement this program and build a strong structure to allow the project to stand on its own by the time my year of service is over. No pressure.
When I began my VISTA year in May, one of the first things I wanted to do was learn more about food insecurity in the New River Valley. What I found was shocking to me: the average percentage of K-12 students approved for free or reduced price lunch is 43.02%.
The average for the Commonwealth of Virginia is 39.70% (Annie E. Casey Foundation KIDS Count Data Center, 2012).
Additionally, 12.48% of households in the New River Valley are participating in the SNAP program (formerly known as food stamps). The average in Virginia is 10.20% (U.S. Census Bureau, 2011).
Although I participated in various hunger relief efforts as an undergraduate, I wish I really knew about those suffering from food insecurity just outside of our campus walls before I graduated. After speaking with several food pantries over the past two weeks, I’ve realized how big the need is in our area, and how important this work is.
I had no idea that this work has the potential to have an impact on thousands, literally thousands of lives…
…and we are about to take it to the next level.
So what does a Campus Kitchen do? It’s designed to work with campus dining halls and other donors to redistribute leftover food to area hunger relief agencies. This program does two big things: it helps eliminate extra food from going to waste and rotting in landfills, and gets healthier food to people in our community who are food insecure.
Dining already had a food redistribution program in place, so we are building upon that work to expand the scope of the people we serve and we’re getting students engaged in the process.
We might be one cubicle strong right now, but we’re growing!
You’re probably wondering what a Campus Kitchen looks like. Well, right now, it’s still a serious work in progress, and I need your help.
Until students start to filter back into Blacksburg, this summer will consist of intensive planning around what the physical space and operations will look like, as well as building relationships with partners and potential clients.
I will also be recruiting volunteers for the food diversion program in partnership with VT Dining Services and developing a leadership team – a “task force” consisting of students, faculty, and staff members.
The solution to hunger relief starts with all of us. I invite you to lead this effort with me.
But there is one thing I know for sure: the Campus Kitchen at Virginia Tech is going to be a collaborative effort that consists of volunteers – students, faculty, staff, and locals- who will work with partners to provide for those who struggle with food insecurity in the New River Valley.
Those who become involved with the project will have the opportunity to open pathways between the university and the community. They’ll work to relieve hunger through food recovery, meal preparation, meal delivery, and community empowerment and education.
This may not have been the path I imagined for myself after graduation, but I am so excited to make my gap year meaningful. I can’t wait to see what an impact we can have on our community. Join us!
P.S. By the way, it’s okay for the future to seem ambiguous. Now is the time to invent it.
Joanne graduated in May with a B.S. in Biological Sciences, along with a minor in Medicine and Society. She is originally from Virginia Beach. Follow her work as the Campus Kitchen at Virginia Tech grows on Facebook and Twitter, and check out the video that helped bring this project to Tech. Or send her an email at jamposta(Replace this parenthesis with the @ sign)vt.edu if you want to get involved!