Service-Learning Opportunity: Food Stamp Enrollment Campaign

Posted by on September 1, 2006

Even though the fall semester has only just begun, many of you are getting ready for the spring semester. The Greater Philadelphia Coalition Against Hunger is also developing its spring plans (and belated fall plans!) for the Food Stamp Enrollment Campaign and hopes to continue to involve service-learning students from Philadelphia area colleges and universities in this Campaign.

Over the few years, many service-learning students have been trained by and volunteered with the Campaign. They have served primarily as “pre-screeners” at various sites around the city (e.g., public health centers), determining households’ eligibility for the Food Stamp Program and assisting them in the application process. These service-learning students have been a vital part of the Campaign’s efforts to increase participation in the Food Stamp Program, and students’ involvement in the Campaign has allowed them to better connect their work in the classroom with the realities of low-income households in Philadelphia.

In the past, service-learning students from the following schools have participated in the Campaign: Arcadia University, Bryn Mawr College, Cabrini College, Haverford College, St. Joseph’s University, Temple University, University of Pennsylvania, and Villanova University. They have been enrolled in courses in a variety of disciplines, including economics, political science, religion, biology, social work and sociology.

As you and/or your colleagues are developing service-learning curricula for the spring semester, we ask that you consider the Coalition Against Hunger’s Food Stamp Enrollment Campaign as a potential placement for your students. In addition to continuing our regular pre-screenings this spring, we hope to assist clients at several sites in applying for food stamps on-line and to continue our direct work with various County Assistance Offices in Philadelphia. Thus, there will be many opportunities for service-learning students to become involved in the Campaign.

If you know of any spring service-learning courses at your school that might benefit from a partnership with the Coalition Against Hunger’s Food Stamp Enrollment Campaign, I would appreicate it if you could pass this information along to me. I can be reached via e-mail at pkersting@hungercoalition.org or at 215-430-0555. I would be happy to discuss the specifics of the Campaign and particular courses with you in greater detail as well as answer any questions you may have.

Patricia Kerstig
Volunteer Coordinator
Greater Philadelphia Coalition Against Hunger
2901 W. Hunting Park Avenue
Philadelphia, PA 19129
215-430-0555
pkersting@hungercoalition.org

[ed note: PHENND was an official partner of the Food Stamp Enrollment Campaign in its early days. For more information about our involvement, visit http://www.upenn.edu/ccp/PHENND/initiatives/foodstamps.html. In addition, I and three faculty involved with the program are working on a paper about the particular benefits of this project for service-learning courses.]