Food Lion Feeds and North Carolina Campus Engagement awarded $20,000 to three North Carolina colleges for student-led hunger relief efforts, the Salisbury, North Carolina-based retailer announced Feb. 16.
Alamance Community College earned the $10,000 grand prize as Grand Hunger Champion. Catawba College won $5,000 as the North Carolina Independent Colleges and Universities Private Sector Hunger Champion, and North Carolina Central University received $5,000 as the UNC System Public Sector Hunger Champion. Each winning college will also receive $1,600 to supplement pantry levels during the spring semester.
Challenge results
Fourteen North Carolina colleges and universities competed from Sept. 8-Dec. 19, organizing events to raise awareness of food insecurity, nutritional education and wellness resources. Each participating school received $500 to host hunger awareness events, while student ambassadors received paid stipends for their leadership.
Collectively, the schools collected more than 66,000 food items, hosted more than 120 awareness events, published more than 300 social media posts and impacted more than 10,700 students, staff, faculty and community members.
“College students are stepping up in powerful ways to support one another and their communities,” said Kevin Durkee, manager of Food Lion Feeds.
“Through the N.C. Collegiate Hunger Challenge, we’re proud to partner with North Carolina Campus Engagement to support student-led solutions that help ensure students have access to the food they need to learn, grow and succeed.”
Program impact
The award presentation took place Feb. 11 at North Carolina Campus Engagement’s annual Pathways to Achieving Civic Engagement Conference at Elon University in Elon, North Carolina.
“For eight years, the Hunger Challenge has empowered college students to raise awareness of food insecurity and take meaningful action to address it,” said Leslie Garvin, executive director of North Carolina Campus Engagement.
“We are grateful for our partnership with Food Lion Feeds because this leadership-in-action model is more important than ever, as campuses report increased use of food pantries and recent survey data show that 30% of college students experience food insecurity.”
Since 2019, the North Carolina Collegiate Hunger Challenge has awarded more than $185,000, equivalent to more than 1.8 million meals. One dollar helps provide at least 10 meals secured by Feeding America on behalf of local partner food banks.
Additional participants
Other participating schools included East Carolina University in Greenville, Elizabeth City State University in Elizabeth City, High Point University in High Point, Methodist University in Fayetteville, North Carolina A&T State University in Greensboro, Piedmont Community College in Roxboro, Queens University of Charlotte in Charlotte, UNC Asheville in Asheville, UNC Pembroke in Pembroke, Warren Wilson College in Swannanoa and William Peace University in Raleigh.
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