Service-Learning Opportunity: Food Stamp Enrollment Campaign

Posted by on September 10, 2007

Service-Learning Opportunity: Food Stamp Enrollment Campaign

For the last five years, the Greater Philadelphia Coalition Against Hunger has worked with service-learning students and faculty as part of the Food Stamp Enrollment Campaign. Students serve primarily as “pre-screeners” at various sites around the city (e.g. public health centers and CareerLinks), 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.

Once again, the Coalition Against Hunger is looking for faculty and students interested in joining the Food Stamp Enrollment Campaign. If you or your students still need to find a service-learning placement for the fall, please contact us. We are conducting trainings as several college campuses (including University of Pennsylvania, La Salle University, and Eastern University) throughout the month of September and are open to adding more sites.

If you or your colleagues have started planning for the spring semester, please consider the Food Stamp Enrollment Campaign as a placement for your student. In addition to continuing our regular pre-screenings this spring, we hope to expand our submission of on-line food stamp applications and to involve students in advocacy work with Philadelphia?s County Assistance Offices.

I can be reached by e-mail at rmeeks@hungercoalition.org or at 215-430-0555. I would be happy to discuss the specifics of the Campaign in greater detail and answer any questions. Thanks!

Rachel Meeks
Volunteer Coordinator
Greater Philadelphia Coalition Against Hunger
2901 W. Hunting Park Avenue
Philadelphia, PA 19129
215-430-0555
rmeeks@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 finishing on a paper about the particular benefits of this project for service-learning courses.]