On January 28th, 2021 I attended my first virtual event of the year. Many of the events I have chosen to attend recently have been centered around politics or issues within the United States. I wanted to focus on something a bit more positive this month by attending an event centered around service and giving back. The event I chose to attend today was a service spotlight on an OSU based nonprofit called the Buckeye Food Alliance.

During the service spotlight, I learned more about the Buckeye Food Alliance at OSU. This program, currently associated with the Student Wellness Center, is a student-run, nonprofit food pantry. Their goals is to provide qualifying OSU students with free and healthy food and educate students on collegiate food insecurity.

Many people do not understand the real need for a food pantry on a college campus. In reality, 41% of college students are experiencing food insecurity. This number was shocking to me. I was surprised to hear that such a high percentage of students worry about where their next meal will come from.

The Buckeye Food Alliance aims to provide a resource for students who are struggling with finding or affording food during their time as a student. It is so valuable for students to continue to feed their brains and their bodies during their time spent inside and outside of the classroom. Many students are also forced to eat cheap foods like ramen noodles or canned soup. The Buckeye Food Alliance wants to ensure that students are receiving healthy options not just any food.

Being able to learn more about such a hardworking nonprofit organization was very interesting and applicable to me. For my IA second-year project, I have been working as an intern for a nonprofit organization. I also volunteer with two other nonprofit student organizations at OSU. I enjoy hearing of all the unique ways that varying nonprofit organizations help others, especially during such a difficult time. I am able to relate many of my experiences to the discussion that took place during this event.