STLF Memorial Pay It Forward Scholarship

In 2024, I started a social awareness platform called Healing Hunger and used that platform to raise money and awareness related to food insecurity. My first and most significant event to date was organizing a Rise Against Hunger Meal Packing event. Rise Against Hunger is a nonprofit that provides packed meals of rice, soy, dried vegetables, and vitamins to school children in other countries who struggle with hunger. We aimed to recruit 120 volunteers and raise $9,000 for an event where we would pack 20,000 meals in two hours. For six months, I organized fundraisers, including a Breakfast for Dinner, Potato Bar, and Singing for Their Supper Benefit Concert. I also designed an original Healing Hunger shirt that was sold at fundraisers, around town, and at the event itself. I met with local businesses and those interested in philanthropy to share the mission of Healing Hunger and help raise the money. I did two spots on our local news - one advertising the benefit concert and the other on the day of the meal-packing event. On February 2, 2025, we had over 150 people from all over the city, including churches, synagogues, Beta Club, scout troops, university Greek members, and even a women's social club who supported the cause. I raised $9,100, and we were able to pack just over 20,000 meals in about an hour and forty-five minutes! It was an incredible feat, and the atmosphere was positive and energetic! After successfully completing the Rise Against Hunger event, I decided to turn my focus toward food insecurity in my town. I continued raising money and worked with the other members of my school's Beta Club to collect nonperishable, nutritious foods. I organized box-packing sessions where we would pack small boxes of these snacks and deliver them to homeless shelters, food pantries, churches, and other places where people in need sought help. These boxes provide 4-6 snacks with protein, low in sugar and fat, so they have things that will satiate them as needed. Not only do I believe that service is important, but I also believe that leadership in service is important. I developed leadership, communication, and organizational skills by leading these efforts, organizing the volunteers and fundraisers, and running the event itself. I let people around my city see my passion on a regular basis. I could share my "why" and talk about my history and the reasons that food insecurity is so important to me. It gave others, those I knew and those I did not, insight into where my desire to help others came from, how I hope to change the world through service, and gave them the ability to share in that common goal. Perhaps others who participated will see that if one seventeen-year-old girl can make something like this happen, they can also step out on faith that others will share their compassion and desire for good. I am attaching a PDF of my Healing Hunger website as well as the two links below of my news interviews. Although I am heading to college, I hope to continue working to eradicate hunger and food insecurity in my hometown, my college town, and worldwide. https://www.wdam.com/2025/01/24/university-baptist-hosting-2-hunger-fighting-events-coming-days/?utm_source=canva&utm_medium=iframely https://www.wdam.com/2025/02/03/oak-grove-high-school-student-organizes-meal-packing-event/?utm_source=canva&utm_medium=iframely