Feeding the Hungry Through Innovation

Ever since Rebecca Oman began volunteering at the Waukesha County Food Pantry in high school, she has been deeply struck by the hardships facing people who don't have the means to feed themselves and support their families. "Can you imagine going home everyday after school," she asks, "and saying, 'Mom, where are we going to eat dinner: Salvation Army, St. Matthias Church, or St. Vincent DePaul? I sure hope they have something good tonight'?" After completing her freshman year at MIT, Rebecca was ready to revisit the food pantry ®C only this time, she wanted to make a difference in a larger way. Rebecca started working behind the scenes of the pantry's operations and used a vector fellowship from the Public Service Center to improve the pantry's reach and the quality of their services.

Rebecca is particularly motivated by her belief that if more resources were directed at helping people discover how to improve their situation, instead of simply helping them get by, younger generations might be able to "break the cycle of families going through the system." In this vein, Rebecca found ways to help the pantry staff become more efficient. She taught them basic computer skills, which dramatically increased the amount of time they could devote to activities other than record keeping or formatting. She also tried to make existing services more useful, by creating satisfaction surveys, establishing a relationship with a nearby lunch program for children, and compiling recipes that used some of the pantry's more obscure food items.

Rebecca's summer work at the Waukesha County Food Pantry left the organization better able to help their 5,000 regular clients. The work also left Rebecca with the hope that other members of the MIT community, with their "influence and intelligence," will take up the cause of helping the hungry. "While eating dinner tonight," she encourages, "do not only imagine how to feed those in need, but take action to fill the hungry stomachs throughout the world."

Read more about students and their public service projects...