After hearing about the effects of the recent government shutdown on families across the country, including the potential for a lack of funding for the National School Lunch Program, Castleton students sprang into action to raise awareness about child hunger.
Last month, students in Professor Deb Waggett’s Elementary Pedagogy class launched “Project Snapback,” with the goal of collecting food items that can be distributed to local children during weekends and breaks, when they don’t have access to free or reduced lunches.
“The food we collect will be packed up in some sort of container, possibly backpacks, and will be going to schools in our community like Castleton and Benson, so that the children and families in need can get it,” said Emma Tudhope, a junior elementary education major.
Students in the class have placed cardboard boxes in each of the university’s residence halls to collect food items, as well as in each academic building, Glenbrook Gymnasium, the Campus Center, and the Fine Arts Center.
“I feel very happy knowing that we can do anything to help out. When I found out that a lot of students go hungry, it made me upset,” Tudhope said. “Being able to come together and collect food for people and children that truly need it made me feel really good.”