Kicking4Hunger

The varsity soccer field doesn't often see tiny shin guards and cartoon themed water bottles, but plenty of both came to campus November 18 - 19 when the local, student-run nonprofit Kicking4Hunger held a free soccer clinic to fight hunger.


Current UNC Chapel Hill senior Gabe Whaley started Kicking4Hunger to accomplish two goals: give kids an inexpensive and fun place to learn soccer, and benefit the community at the same time. Kicking4Hunger was born and quickly made its way to the editors of People Magazine, which recently awarded Gabe its annual People's Choice Hero Award.


Campbell fourth year 3/2 trust major Rebekah Barker is a close friend of Gabe's and helped to organize and manage the K4H event in Buies Creek. Check out what Rebekah has to say about service as a college student and how you can also change your community.

Rebekah Barker

How did you get involved with K4H?

I met Gabe Whaley my junior year of high school at the NC School of Science and Math. When [classmate] Caleb approached me about a soccer-related service learning project I participated in over the summer, I suggested we get up with Gabe to partner with K4H. 

Do you feel that the event in Buies Creek was a success? 

I definitely feel the event was a success! We were able to reach out to over 30 kids in the local community and collect over 500 lbs. of food. The first afternoon, we needed multiple people to help unload cars; it was amazing! The kids really enjoyed themselves, and it was apparent they took something away from the camp.

What do you like most about K4H?

My favorite aspect about K4H is the message they are teaching kids. To help a kid learn how to play soccer is a great thing, but to also incorporate learning to serving others and help those who are less fortunate is an amazing thing.

Is serving others important to you? 

Personally, serving others is really important to me. I believe that by helping and empowering people around you, you encourage others to do the same. Showing God's love to others is not only an act of service, but an act of compassion.

Do you have a favorite quote that inspires you?

Galations 5:13 "For you were called to freedom, brothers. Only do not use your freedom as an opportunity for the flesh, but through love serve one another."

What can college students do to fight hunger in their communities?

Get involved with organizations geared to stop hunger! It's also really easy to organize food drives or similar small events on campus. 

• You can also read Rebekah's own post on the Kicking4Hunger website.
• Click here to view the Facebook photo album of the K4H event in Buies Creek.

Campus Food Drive

In numbers alone Campbell's first school-wide food drive has been a success. This afternoon we've accounted for more than 1,000 pounds of food since the beginning of the drive and we expect at least 500 more by the end of the drive on November 15.

The food piles up quickly with your help.

The drive, of course, could not have been successful without the help of the Campbell community. Students, professors, clubs, and local businesses banded together to give food insecurity a roundhouse kick to the face this autumn.


A special thanks to these groups who have donated to the Harnett Food Pantry:

• Foreign Language Department & Foreign Language Club
• Dr. Williams' CUFS 100 Class
• Wallace Student Society 
• Teaching Fellows
• Coffee Society
• Barker Hall
• Healthcare Management Club
• Math/ITS Department
• Divinity School
• Marketing Club
• Keith Hills Golf Course
• College of Pharmacy & Health Sciences
• RTP Campus
• Wiggins Library
• Kicking4Hunger & Club Soccer

For those of you who prefer stories over numbers, we've got you covered. We delivered 500 pounds of donations to the Harnett Food Pantry yesterday and the volunteers couldn't have been more grateful. The aging trailer houses evidence of a community response-- shelves lined with non-perishables. In the few minutes we were there we saw three families come through to receive emergency food. 

The Pantry volunteers said they had over 100 families in the last week. Your support of the food drive is in turn supporting our neighbors who are hungry.

Scroll down to see photos of the drive or click here to see the complete Facebook album.

About 1/3 of the inside of the Harnett Food Pantry.

500 lbs. of Campbell donations at the Pantry

A huge load is ready to go to the Pantry next week.

In other service news:

- The Community Christmas Store has extended its toy donation deadline until TODAY. Contact Terry Tucker for more information.

- Operation Christmas Child Collection Week is November 14 - 21 in the Rumley Center. 

- Kicking4Hunger will take place in Buies Creek on November 18 & 19 through Club Soccer. Click here to learn more about this great organization.

Amazing Faiths Dinner Dialogue

A Hindu and a Christian walk into a room....

Nope, it's not a joke. Last night the President's Interfaith Service Campus Challenge hosted Campbell's first-ever Amazing Faiths Dinner Dialogue, a nationwide event promoting interfaith communication and relationship building.

The Challenge partnered with Raleigh's Triangle Interfaith Alliance, experts on all things interfaith and Amazing Faiths, to plan a night of dialogue, education, and understanding about the student body's diverse traditions and backgrounds.

With a registration goal of 40 participants, the Challenge planning team was thrilled to have 50 students arrive at the Rumley Center for a pasta dinner, relationship building, a nice slice of cake. The Amazing Faiths model calls for active listening while participants at each table answer a question about their faith experiences. The questions are broad so that a person from any faith background may offer a response. Examples of the questions are:

Do you think religions share common principles or ideals?  If so, can you identify some of these?

Do you pray or meditate? What is prayer or mediation for you? How does it work beneficially in your life?

Have you ever been asked to do or say something that went against your faith or belief system?  How did you respond?

The goal of the night was to build bridges between students of different faith backgrounds, when religion can sometimes be an obstacle or stumbling block in the relationship building process. The Amazing Faith Dinner Dialogue isn't going away, so keep your eyes peeled for future dinners!

In other service news:

- The Campus Food Drive will end November 15! Drop your donations in the bin at the Oasis, Marshbanks, and Turner. All donations go to the struggling Harnett Food Pantry in Lillington.

- The Community Christmas Store has extended its toy donation deadline through November 11. Contact Terry Tucker for more information.

- Operation Christmas Child Collection Week is November 14 - 21 in the Rumley Center. You can help OCC by donating a shoe box or by supporting it via social media:

• Please consider starting an account, following influencers and friends. We could use your help “tweeting” this year and beyond! Follow OCC at @OCC_shoeboxes
  
  
• Since August 1^st, facebook.com/OCCshoeboxes has grown from 166,175 to almost 213,000. That’s almost 50,000 followers OCC has gained since promotion season started and we don’t want to stop there! There more people who ‘follow’ OCC, the more people who see our news and information!

Fall Service Highlights

If you've seen the Christmas decorations at Target already, you know that with the changing of the leaves in October comes preparation for the holidays. 

The same goes for community service-- promotions for myriad donation drives bombard us during the season when we're already trying to give to those immediately around us. 

Everybody can be great... because anybody can serve. 

You don't have to have a college degree to serve. 

You don't have to make your subject and verb agree to serve. 

You only need a heart full of grace. 

A soul generated by love. -- MLK Jr.

Service agencies begin their drives early to make sure they have enough time to meet their goals and then sort, package, and distribute the donations to their clients. So while you may not even have a Halloween costume yet, agencies that serve the community are already thinking of how to meet the especially stressful holiday and cold weather needs of our neighbors.

Campbell is no exception. Check out this guide to what we've got going on between now and Christmas break. If you would like your event to be featured on the blog, e-mail Sara Acosta.

Kiss the Camel

October 11 - 22

Campus Activities Board's Community Outreach Committee and Special Events Committee are sponsoring a fundraiser for Heifer International, which provides sustainable support to rural third-world families by donating livestock to that family. 

To participate in the fundraiser, look for designated jars in Marshbanks, the Oasis, Quiznos, and after CUW. Drop money in the jar representing the faculty/staff member you'd like to see kiss a camel. The options are: Dr. Kesling, Dr. Bazemore, Dr. Martin, April Paszkiewicz, Dr. Lopez, and Dr. Broadhurst.

Fore more information e-mail selangston1005 or z_uriostebautista0421, or visit the Kiss the Camel Facebook event.

Campus Food Drive

October 15 - November 15

When the Harnett Food Pantry closed recently, more than 275 families, or 1,000 people, had to look elsewhere for emergency food supplies. 

To help restock the Pantry and to help feed our neighbors, Campus Ministry is sponsoring a University-wide food drive. Any non-perishable food items can go in the designated bins located in the Oasis, at Marshbanks, and in the lobby of Turner Auditorium. 

For more information e-mail Sara Acosta or check out the Campus Food Drive Facebook event. Click here to learn more about food insecurity and poverty in Harnett County. 

The Community Christmas Store

November 16, 17, 18

Carter Gym

The Community Christmas Store will serve Harnett County families unable to afford Christmas gifts for their children, aiming to relieve holiday stress for low-income families in our area. In its inaugural year, the Community Christmas Store will serve 131 children in 53 area families. 

That means we need your help! Donated toys must be new, between $10 and $15, and for any age range between infant and teenager. Campus Ministry will gladly pick up any off-campus donations. On-campus donation locations are: Marshbanks, the Student Center, Taylor Hall, Wiggins Library, Lundy Fetterman Lounge, the Anniversary Gala, and the Homecoming Football Game.

Click here to volunteer for the Christmas Store. We need child caretakers, gift wrappers, Spanish interpreters, and more! For more information contact Terry Tucker.

Operation Christmas Child Collection Week

November 14 - 21

Rumley Center

Campbell University is proud to serve again as a Harnett County collection site for Operation Christmas Child, a project of Samaritan's Purse. Student, faculty, and staff volunteers have stepped up to collect and process shoe boxes full of Christmas toys that a child in a third-world country will receive. 

Visit the Samaritan's Purse website to learn more about how to pack a shoe box or to follow your box on its journey around the world. For more information contact Terry Tucker.

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A CELEBRATION OF FAITH, LEARNING, AND SERVICE

Make service part of Campbell's 125th Anniversary Celebration! 

The Campbell community will dedicate 125,000 of service this  year. To report your hours to Campus Ministry use this form.

Gore Center for Servant Leadership Awards

October 5 marked a special day for three undergraduate students who received the annual Gore Center for Servant Leadership Awards, given in honor of Mr. and Mrs. Ed (Class of 1952) and Dinah Gore and in recognition of service to the community and leadership among one's peers.

Kristen Fischer, Heather Higgins, and Courtney Williamson were in the spotlight as the University honored their achievements as servant leaders, living up to Mr. Gore's definition of one who uses power to place others first.


Photos by Billy Liggett, Assistant Director for Publications

As part of the day's events, including University Convocation and the associated Heilman Lecture, Campus Ministry hosted Dr. Lisa Keyne, Executive Director of North Carolina Campus Compact. Campbell is a member of NC Campus Compact and hosts an AmeriCorps VISTA through the organization. Dr. Keyne demonstrated to students that, according to the title of her lecture, they are "more precious than pandas," motivating students to embrace the world around them.

The Gore Center for Servant Leadership complements Campbell's mission to prepare students for "purposeful lives and meaningful service." The Center exists to encourage servant leadership among the Campbell community. Each year a different school presents awards to select students.

To find out more:

Click here to read the biographies of each recipient.

Click here to read AmeriCorps VISTA Sara Acosta's remarks honoring the three young women and highlighting Campbell's service programs.

Click here to read the University's coverage of the awards.

So long sweet summer

The Fall 2011 semester is upon us already!


The Service @ Campbell blog took a break over the summer along with you. We're reading to jump back into the school year with myriad service opportunities, news about service, and ways to connect service to the rest of the world.


Here's a sneak preview of the fall semester in the world of service in Buies Creek:
- The President's Interfaith Service Campus Challenge
- The University's 125th Anniversary Service Initiative
- 9/11 Day of Service
- Christmas Toy Store
- Operation Christmas Child
- Mission Trip Preparation
- Caring Camels
- Abrazo

1,000 Days

[ Check out the June 11 and June 12 posts for more background on the Gathering. ]

My Bread for the World saga ended on an international note.

The National Gathering met alongside Concern Worldwide for a groundbreaking conference on undernutrition.The umbrella initiative to globally combat undernutrition is called 1,000 Days to symbolize the 1,000 days between pregnancy and the age of two when nutrition is most critical to physical and cognitive development.

Because of the undeniable relationship between nutrition and chronic hunger, it's only natural that Bread would take part in 1,000 Days. To drive home the overwhelming presence of undernutrition in the world and the outstanding hope that has been and will continue to fill little bellies, Bread and Concern hosted several speakers who have dedicated their lives and careers to nutrition and/or hunger.

Per my usual coverage of the National Gathering, my notes and pixelated Blackberry photos  will hopefully paint a picture of the progress humankind accomplished today. For significantly better photos, check out Bread's Flickr account.

- Sara

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Maria Otero, U.S. Undersecretary of State

- Nobel laureates have published that nutrition improvement is the best investment

- Clean water is critical: 40% of the world doesn't have safe water and the highest cause of death for kids under five is unsafe water

- Food insecurity has been elevated by foreign policy through Feed the Future

- Nutrition's greatest impact happens between pregnancy and two years of age

- Success will be a result of political will and leadership of civil society

- The U.S. government is working alongside the Irish Government

- Nutrition investments are cost effective, proven, and successful and short-term and long-term

Hillary Clinton, U.S. Secretary of State (video address)

- The U.S. has quadrupled nutritional funding in Tanzania

- She commissioned the 1,000 Days website to be improved

- The 1,000 days of the campaign are September 2010 - June 2013

Video address from Secretary of State Hillary Clinton

Kevin Farrell, Irish Special Hunger Envoy

- 20% of Irish foreign assistance goes to poverty

- irreversible nature of childhood undernutrition is what strikes him the most

- Ireland has a recent history with hunger

- Ireland's action to support international nutrition: partnerships for micronutrient supplements, enhanced sweet potatoes in Ethiopia and Malawi, Sierra Leone national nutrition strategy, UN task force support

- Work across sectors

- Success requires country ownership and coordination among supporters

- Need an inclusive approach, not just private sector

- Important to measure impact (return on investment)

- Unless we act (not just analyze and talk), nothing will happen

- "Effective" defined as change at the household and family levels

- Describes chronic hunger as "massive human tragedy" and "scandal of widespread malnutrition"

Melinda French Gates, The Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation

Photograph: Stuart Isett/Polaris

- Mothers everywhere have the same goal: the best for their kids

- Sharing ideas with women around the world
- We all have a role to play

(The Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation has been key to the 1,000 Days Scaling Up Poverty campaign.)

Dr. David Nabarro, U.N. Special Representative for Food Security and Nutrition

Dr. Nabarro received a standing ovation after his talk.

- The challenge is to address the lifelong handicap of undernutrition
- Scaling Up Nutrition (SUN) is a movement, not a program
- People are chronically hungry and short of micronutrients
- Climate, income, and infrastructure affect food access
- The keys are: availability, access, and utilization
- Women are key to nutrition
- Examples of hope for nutrition reform: malaria, TB eradication, HIV/AIDS advances
- Hold stakeholders accountable: World Food Programme, grassroots efforts, UNICEF, WHO, World Bank, development officials
- World Food Programme once mentioned the "burden of knowledge" (ignorance is bliss)
- Need increased effort at national levels


Ray Suarez, Senior Correspondent for PBS Newshour, moderated a panel discussion among the following nutrition and hunger professionals. The notes are from their opening statements, most of which focused on progress in their respective countries and/or organizations.


Anna Lartey, professor of food science at the University of Ghana and president-elect of the International Union of Nutritional Sciences

Professor Lartey (left) and Mr. Suarez (right).

- Ghana needs policy change to increase domestic food production
- The country now offers free maternal health services and enhanced social services
- Referred to Kofi Annan saying that society is the new superpower
- Need accountability of commitments
Charles McCormack, CEO of Save the Children U.S.

Photo: Adriana Zehbrauskas/Polaris.

- Strength of the private sector exemplified by creation of the polio vaccine
- Private sector must work with other sectors (polio vaccination became possible through other sectors)
- Got to work together better with holistic and creative cooperation
- Margaret Meade quote: "A small group of thoughtful people could change the world. Indeed, it's the only thing that ever has."

Cassim Masi, executive director of National Food and Nutrition Commission

Mr. Masi sits third from the right as Mr. Suarez opens.

- Stats: stunting vs. underweight. wasting

- Zambia has an accelerated nutrition forum

- Zambia's National Food and Nutrition Commission was created in the 1960s

- Zambia's challenges: inadequate government resources to support policy, limited malnutrition-focused organizations, limited involvement of media (or sensitive media)

- Zambia needs: technological assistance to build capacity, lobbying/high level advocacy, increased financial support of its plans, mobilized aid organizations, and to strengthenn multisectoral support

Shanim Hayder Talukder, CEO of Eminence, Bangladesh

- Bangladesh is on track to meet MDG 4 and MDG 5

- The population is 160 million; 75 million women are of reproductive age and 20 million kids are under the age of two.

- 26% of mothers are underweight (1996 stat was 52%)

- Ministry of Health and Family welfare provides family planning

- 58% of women and 68% of kids under five are anemic

- Micronutrients are a challenge

- Need public ownership, public/private partnerships, advocacy network, operational research, media exposure, and supportive policy makers

- Eminence is a non-government organization (NGO)

Paul Weisenfeld, USAID Bureau for Food Security

Photo: USAID

- How do we expand and sustain? Country-led efforts, results focus, and work with civil society.

- SUN started with countries

- USAID reformed nutrition systems recently to put ownership in hands of the public: integrating efforts (micronutrients, infant feeding practices, etc.); no silver bullet, researching maternal and childhood nutrition, indicators and results, more focus on prevention, integrating across sectors (agriculture, social protection), and geographic scale (beyond the pilot program)

- Civil society can offer: field-based perspective, monitoring/impact evaluations, coordination and unity of effort

- Stronger local communities will lead to sustainability through increased capacity

- Having one outcome will force people to work together

More Bread

[ Check out the June 11 post for more background on the Gathering. ]

Let me tell you something... Bread for the World knows how to saturate your day with inspiration and information. The day began with worship at 8:45 this morning and ended with worship at 8:30 this evening. We filled those twelve hours with workshops, speakers, networking, and an amazing performance by a children's choir from Uganda. 

My notes and Blackberry shots below will fill you in on what Bread supporters accomplished today.

- Sara

Session 1: How's the Exodus Going?

Patrick Fine, VP of the Millennium Challenge Corporation

- Putting principles into practice

- Easy to avoid the burden of responsibility of caring for others

- Struggle to balance your nourished world with the malnourished one you serve (cognitive dissonance)

- We were not put on this earth to make ourselves rich

- Practices of principles may be unconventional

- The MCC is 100% tax funded

- Innovative business model: increasing a country's income is the only goal; help only well-governed, transparent countries

- Model is incentive for governments to improve policy to qualify for MCC help
- Ownership matters (rehab and development vs. relief)

Sample of the great music we had between sessions.

Anna Lartey, professor of food science at the University of Ghana

-90% of all stunted children live in just 36 countries, most in sub-Saharan Africa, India, Pacific Islands
- Ghana's school food program feeds 1 million kids/day
- Good governance and political stability has been key
- Meats/fish/eggs, "enam," too expensive for most families in Ghana
- Microloan of $20 - $50 creates provision of education, business training (more income)
- Take home messages: There are programs that work; improving childhood nutrition is a long-term solution to prevent problems later in life

Q&A

- MCC uses impact evaluations to measure success
- MCC has high priority on gender issues; uses gender and social analysis
- Anna: successful women in micro-loan program had supportive husbands
- School feeding programs lead to increase school attendance
- Anna: education is capacity building
- MCC is investing in road development in northern Ghana, where Anna says is a hungry place because of poor infrastructure (isolation)
- Countries with weak governance need to start with strictly humanitarian aid to move forward

Workshop: The Bread Revolution Will Be Tweeted

Holly Hight and Robin Stephenson, Bread staff


Holly found a great summary of social media's role in modern communication.

- We have a people-driven economy
- Social media = sharing
- Tension between generations regarding social media's purpose
- Congress is on Twitter, so Bread's supporters need to be also
- Community vs. audience
- Relationship building
- Maslow's third level involves a sense of belonging
- No dichotomy between "real" and digital world
- Change will be a result of action online and offline
- Follow Holly and Robin!

Session 2: A Change Agenda for Effective Foreign Assistance

Dr. Rajiv Shah, administrator of USAID

- 1 billion people go to bed hungry every night
- high food an gas prices push people back into poverty
- Secretary Clinton: can vs. will
- USAID top priorities are food and hunger
- Feed the Future just received $1.15B in bipartisan funding, result of Bush and Obama commitments to poverty
- World Bank spending on poverty has tripled since 2006
- Women make up 70% of farmers where USAID serves
- Focus on local cooperation
- Rigorous monitoring and evaluation; most rigorous U.S. development has ever had
- Focused results lead to good argument for support
- USAID projected to remove 18 million people from poverty; 7.1 million kids from malnutrition
- New paradigm for development: celebrity interest, business leaders, religious leaders
- We know what the choices are: disengagement or engagement
- 50% of North Korean kids are malnourished (isolate from the world)
- President Obama has the strongest foreign assistance policy since JFK
- Development is a discipline
- Diarrhea and pneumonia kill 1.6 million kids/year; vaccines coming out soon

Pixelated rendition of the Watoto Children's Choir out of Uganda from tonight's performance.

Ched Myers, Bartimaeus Cooperative Ministries

- Mobilize moral and responsible citizenship, also engaged and imaginative discipleship
- Historical examples that road to end hunger are not too long and demanding: Jim Crow, Apartheid
- Food can change things: Last Supper, sit-ins
- Mark 2:23 - 28 fundamental right to have food
- In the Torah no one has 100% rights to their land. Gleaners had rights to harvested fields.
- God is true owner of the fields; some parts always reserved for the disadvantaged
- Economic instructions in Exodus (in story of manna): equitable distribution of the gift; gift should circulate, not concentrate; keep the Sabbath to remind us of the economy of grace
- Not just our citizenship, but discipleship also
- Make room for young leaders NOW

Ched Myers uses the Greensboro sit-ins to illustrate that worthy causes require patience.

Session 3: A Time for Action

Rev. Gabriel Salguero, National Latino Evangelical Coalition

- Rev. Salguero's wife, also Rev. Salguero, translated his message into Spanish for the audience
- It's going to take an integrated movement, not assimilated, at God's table, not yours/mine
- Esther 4:10 - 17, Esther's principles for action; malnutrition and poverty disproportionately affect women and children
- Mordecai to Esther: the time is NOW
- Purposeful proximity-- access to power must have a purpose
- Sustainable change comes from intentional diversity
- Nothing worse than an uninformed opinion that destroys people
- Mordecai: Don't think that because you're okay now, you'll escape
- Persistent hope: hymn, "We who believe in freedom will not rest"