A variety of student-led activities will highlight National Hunger and Homelessness Awareness Week (NHHAW) from November 12 until November 19. Events will be hosted by NMC students in Composition and Sociology courses. Join us to support student research, service and engagement.
NMC NHHAW STUDENT RESEARCH CONFERENCE – NOVEMBER 16:
On November 16, from 1:00 pm until 3:00 pm in Scholars Hall on NMC Main Campus, NMC students will share their learning with the community, giving presentations and sharing research posters. Students’ research will debunk myths of poverty as well as highlight areas critical to these like housing policy, economic inequality, low-income dynamics, homelessness and food insecurity. Students’ research posters will be left on display through the month of November. Come see what all of this is about!
NMC FOOD FOR THOUGHT & HYGIENE DRIVE – OCTOBER 29 UNTIL NOVEMBER 18:
Students in Composition and Sociology courses are supporting Kristy McDonald’s BUS-231 NMC Food for Thought Drive, putting an emphasis on the importance of hygiene and personal care products. These items are often overlooked by donors to food pantries, and, as such, this need goes unfilled. Access to personal care products can affect employability, self-esteem and children’s school relationships and performance. Students will be setting up stations at Tom’s Grocery Stores, Walmart, and at NMC’s Tech Expo and elsewhere to encourage donations. In addition to the many connections already established by business students, our students are also coordinating with area schools, including TC West, Grand Traverse Academy and TC St. Francis to scale up the project. Contact Brandon Everest at beverest@nmc.edu to learn more or to donate.
WALK FOR HEALTH & HOUSING – NOVEMBER 14:
Join us in a Walk for Health & Housing on November 14 at 5:30 pm to bring awareness to the challenges of unhoused people in our region. Ryan Hannon, Goodwill Street Outreach Coordinator, will take participants on a guided walk and tour of downtown Traverse City bringing attention to the sorts of situations and challenges faced by homeless people. There will be speeches by other participants as well. We will begin and end at the Great Lakes Campus for this one-hour tour to make the invisible problem of homelessness visible to area residents. Students are making signs, banners, info sheets and pamphlets to distribute to passers-by and onlookers in this effort. We will stop by the Government Center to highlight ways area citizens can provide input to City and County Commission Meetings and elsewhere. We need “All Hands on Deck” for this event to be as successful as possible. We hope to see you there!
NMC SNAP CHALLENGE:
Click here for information about the SNAP Challenge. In short, the SNAP Challenge is an awareness raising activity where participants live off of a SNAP/Food Stamp budget for a week ($29) and document their experiences, sharing those with the community in some way. For us, we hope that participants will share video recordings on their social networks (Facebook, Twitter, Instagram and others with the hashtags: #nmcsnap and #snapchallenge). We have a growing number of participants, and we hope you will consider joining us in that effort and spreading the word. We are asking participants to pick a week in the month of November to take the challenge. Further “rules” information will be distributed to participants upon their agreement to take the challenge.
WAYS TO GET INVOLVED:
- Donate non-perishable food, hygiene and personal care items to the drive.
- Attend NHHAW activities here on campus to show your support of student engagement.
- Accept the SNAP Challenge and share your experiences and insights.
- Walk with us for our Walk for Health and Housing during NHHAW on November 14.
- Attend the NHHAW Student Research Conference on November 16 to support student engagement and service.