In a fundraising effort to combat hunger, Mills College joined with the Alameda County Community Food Bank at Writers Harvest 2001 last Thursday.
All proceeds from the event were donated to the food bank to help feed hungry children and families in the Bay Area. The Alameda County Community Food Bank serves nearly 100,000 people each month, 40 percent of which are children, according to Jessica Bartholow, Hunger Education and Advocacy Coordinator and Mills alumna.
“It’s really nice that we’ve been able to depend on Writers Harvest for almost 10 years,” said Bartholow, “It means a lot to the food bank.”
The Alameda County Community Food Bank relies heavily on individual donors and county and government grants to finance its operations. Events like Writers Harvest are especially important though, because they generate publicity about the prevalence of poverty and hunger.
“It’s one of the events that helps us not only raise money, but promote the issue of hunger in the community as well,” said Bartholow. “So it’s one of our favorites.”
Bartholow, who graduated from Mills in 1994, invites all Mills students to assist the food bank in any way possible.
Volunteers can sponsor food drives, work in the office or warehouse, or do anti-hunger advocacy in addition to numerous other possibilities. Bartholow encourages campus clubs and groups of friends to volunteer together.
Cleavon Smith, Jr., MFA student and one of the coordinators of Writers Harvest
also noted the urgent need to combat hunger.
“After nine-eleven it seemed like there was apathy towards anything that wasn’t going to New York,” said Smith, “which is a shame considering how immediate hunger is in our community.”
To get involved, students can contact the Alameda County Community Food Bank at (510) 834-3663 and ask for Jessica Bartholow or the Volunteer Coordinator, Mary Schoen. Additional information can be obtained from the organization’s Web site, www.accfb.org.
