The Center for Community Engagement has put together a program to provide students with opportunities to volunteer both on and off campus as well as to address the issue of food insecurity on Otterbein’s campus. The program is called Promise House, and it is made up of smaller programs such as a food co-op, a spring break “staycation” and other volunteering opportunities.
“Food insecurity is more visible now on college campuses, but I think students are speaking up about it, they’re more understanding about it,” said Melissa Gilbert, director of the Center for Community Engagement. “It’s not just Otterbein, it’s really something nationally, that we’re seeing more students come forward, saying that they have to prioritize tuition and housing, and oftentimes, food becomes the last thing they’re thinking about, but it’s probably one of the most important things. To have a healthy mind, nutrition is important and linked to academic success, so those issues are really important.”
Promise House itself is a student organization, and underneath that, there are student leaders for each of the different activities. The Center for Community Engagement reached out to students in August to find out what they thought the campus needed most, and since then, those students have been recruiting others to volunteer and help out with the development of the program.
The program is free to all students on campus, with the expectation that any food co-op members will also volunteer their time so that the pantry can stay open and accessible to students as often as possible. Anyone can volunteer for the food co-op but membership is only available to students.
Lauren Klingshirn is an AmeriCorps Volunteer in Service to America (VISTA) currently placed at Otterbein. She said the goal of her stay this past year has been to implement a volunteer program such as the Promise House.
“We took an inventory of what retention programs were available, but we expanded them upon that to meeting students’ basic needs in addition to offering volunteer opportunities. The service piece was there, but we included the food bank to kind of also meet those needs for students while they’re on campus,” said Klingshirn.
According to Melissa Gilbert, the food for the co-op will, in part, be donated by Bon Appetit, Otterbein’s dining services. There are plans to hold campus-wide food drives throughout the year, and there are several local churches that are also collecting food for the pantry. Some of the food from the Greek Week canned food structure building contest will also be donated to the co-op.
“The only way to learn about the Promise House is to stop by. It’s not anything to be afraid of. I think if you just come by and sit down, enjoy a snack, do homework, just talk. It’s really just allowance for the students, it’s a place where you can really relax and just enjoy yourself,” said Erick Martinez, a student advocate who has been working with Gilbert and Kilngshirn since the beginning development of the program. “If you need anything, don’t hesitate to stop by and ask, we’re just starting so we want to do the best we can and just get anything that students may need.”
“I think it’s incredibly important that we’re raising awareness on campus about who we are as an institution and how we can work together to make sure that everyone is healthy and secure and that we’re strengthening this community by doing this work together. I think that’s a critical piece of what we’re trying to do, to make it something that everybody owns and is engaged in,” said Gilbert.
The Promise House is located in the student lounge of Home street Commons. The pantry officially opened on Feb. 15 for a few hours, and there will be an official grand opening in March.
