What goes into starting a chapter where you live?
““We were really worried about it [food recovery] coming into COVID-19 because we need to enforce proper guidelines but we also want to continue to reach these homeless shelters that we’ve had relationships with for the last two years.”
The FRN chapter at the University of Illinois Chicago (UIC) exceeded expectations by continuing to recover food from their campus dining hall and the UI Health Hospital during the pandemic. From June-December, 2020 the UIC Chapter recovered and donated more than 8,000 pounds of food to The Franciscan Outreach Center, their partner agency that provides healthy meals and housing to people experiencing homelessness.
In an interview with FRN, Snehitha Talugula, UIC Chapter President, explained that these dining facilities have larger quantities of excess food now due to the reduced number of people staying in the hospital and living in dorms on campus. She continued, “We really did not want any of that [food] to go to waste, so we’re really glad that we have dedicated volunteers that are prepared to take this food and donate it to our homeless shelter, the Franciscan Outreach Center.”
In addition to maintaining their food recovery program, the UIC Chapter also organized an educational webinar for fellow students and community members to discuss food waste and food security during the pandemic.
“We wanted to keep our members active, but we wanted to respect their wishes to maintain social distancing and quarantine.”
Executive team members worked together to identify professors on campus with expertise in urban health, food waste, and food insecurity in Chicago communities to speak on their panel. The webinar was a great success, and the recording is available here.
When asked about her chapter’s future plans, Snehitha shared, “Our recovery efforts are endless and we are always looking for ways we can continue to make an impact during these uncertain times.” Check out the full interview for more of Snehitha’s inspirational thoughts!
What goes into starting a chapter where you live?