N.J. Colleges and Universities to Kick Off Learning to End Hunger Campaign Oct. 16 at World Food Day Forum at Rutgers

NEW BRUNSWICK, N.J. - The New Jersey Higher Education Service Learning Consortium will sponsor a forum in observance of World Food Day, Friday, Oct. 16, from 10 a.m. to 1 p.m. at the Cook Campus Center at Rutgers, The State University of New Jersey. The forum is part of the "Learning to End Hunger Campaign."

The event will feature noted community food activist Mark Winne, author of Closing the Food Gap: Resetting the Table in the Land of Plenty. It s an opportunity for community organizations, faculty and students from across the state to discuss innovative ways of alleviating hunger and food insecurity in New Jersey through civic engagement and service.  The forum is open to faculty, students, staff and invited community organizations.  Rutgers President Richard L. McCormick will give welcoming remarks.

The “Learning to End Hunger Campaign“ was developed to support the efforts of the NJ Anti-Hunger Coalition’s goal to end childhood hunger by 2015 by increasing participation in federally-funded nutrition programs and access to nutritionally sound, culturally appropriate food. 

As the first-ever statewide cross-campus service effort, LEH campaign aims to build capacity for community organizations by involving more students in developing more campus community partnerships, and sharing and documenting best practices.

According to Isabel Nazario, Rutgers’ associate vice president for Academic and Public Partnerships, “the Learning to End Hunger Campaign gives higher education institutions the opportunity to use their sizable social and intellectual capital to work with state agencies and community organizations to solve one of our state’s most pressing issues.”

The campaign is led by a partnership between the New Jersey Higher Education Service Learning Consortium, the Rutgers’ Civic Engagement and Service Education Partnerships Program supported by the Rutgers’ Office of the Associate Vice President for Academic and Public Partnerships.  Additional partners and co-sponsors include the Bonner Foundation, Rutgers Against Hunger, the Governor’s Office of Volunteerism, the NJ Anti-Hunger Coalition and Elijah’s Promise.

Founded in 1992, the New Jersey Higher Education Service Learning Consortium is a network created to foster service learning and civic engagement at their respective institutions. The following institutions are part of the NJHESLC: Atlantic Cape Community College, Bergen Community College, Brookdale Community College, College of St. Elizabeth, Drew University, Fairleigh Dickinson University, Felician College, Georgian Court University, Kean University,  Mercer County Community College, Middlesex Community College, Monmouth University, Montclair State University, NJ Institute of Technology (NJIT), Princeton University, Ramapo College of New Jersey, Rider University, Richard Stockton College of NJ, Raritan Valley Community, Rutgers, The State University of New Jersey, Seton Hall University, The College of New Jersey, UMDNJ/ NJ AHEC, Union County College, William Paterson University.