Swipe Out Hunger is the Righteous Crowd Org of The Week!
Swipe Out Hunger
Working to End Student Hunger on College Campuses
In this week’s Torah portion, Eikev, we read the words to the Birkat HaMazon, the Jewish grace after meals. It says “And you will eat and be satisfied, and bless the Lord your God for the good land which He has given you” (Deuteronomy 8:10). Inspired by this blessing, and as so many more students will face food insecurity, we are supporting an organization that addresses hunger on college campuses. Swipe Out Hunger’s flagship program allows students with extra dining hall swipes to donate them to peers in need.
Righteous Crowd supported Swipe Out Hunger in August 2019.
Swipe out Hunger is the leading nonprofit addressing hunger among college students. Founded by a group of friends at UCLA in 2010, Swipe Out Hunger works closely with each campus to design and develop anti-hunger programs, tailored to the unique needs of each community. The national movement spans more than 120 colleges and has served 2 million nutritious meals to date.
We encourage you to ask college students or college administrators you know to reach out to Swipe Out Hunger so they can help bring initiatives to end hunger to their campus.
Rachel Sumekh, Founder & CEO, wrote last Friday to Righteous Crowd:
"Below is a snapshot of some of our work over the past 4 months. Thank you so much!
Immediate response to COVID-19: we mobilized students across the nation leading to wins like $6.28 billion in emergency aid for college students in the CARES Act, distribution accountability in our Fair CARES campaign and over 250 participants in our weekly webinars. We also distributed thousands in emergency cash grants to students on the edge of dropping out. Swipe Out Hunger knows that students’ voices need to be at the table to craft effective and relevant policy for years to come. But our work, especially in the face of the pandemic, is looking to grow to the scale of the issue.
This week, we launch our Student Navigator Network, which will connect thousands of college students to public benefits and campus resources by pairing them with highly trained peers who will help them navigate the process. We have hired and trained ten Student Navigators already – providing these students with both a professional development opportunity and a living wage. Please share this resource with students now. The navigators have already helped 4,000+ students
Our fifth annual Swipe Summit will happen this weekend! Our first digital summit, this year’s event will be nearly entirely facilitated by students and will provide a space to share best practices, germinate innovative approaches to ending student hunger, and develop plans for future programming. I'll be sure to share the highlight reel.
In August, we will convene our students, stakeholders and board for a session on Scenario Planning the Future of Higher Education. We will forecast what campus life might look like in various scenarios and integrate learning from the session into our programs, leaving us informed and prepared for whatever lies ahead.
Organizationally, we are continuing to grow in an effort to increase our impact and meet the incredible needs of so many students. We approved our largest budget yet and continue to seek out potential new board members."
To read our interview with Rachel from August 2019, click here.