Challah for Hunger Targets Campus Hunger

Challah for Hunger has launched the Campus Hunger Project, a national advocacy and research effort targeting the problem of food insecurity on college campuses.

In its first year, the project will train 80 student volunteers from 40 colleges to research food insecurity among college students and the responses of college administrators.

The project is a collaboration between Challah for Hunger and MAZON: A Jewish Response to Hunger.

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“The issue of hunger on college campuses is one that is hidden in plain sight, and since college is so expensive, people tend to assume that students can afford healthy meals,” said Carly Zimmerman, the CEO of Challah for Hunger, whose chapters bake and sell challah to raise money for local anti-hunger charities and for MAZON. “The cliché of the college student who survives by eating ramen is becoming more and more of a reality.”

Philadelphia-based Challah for Hunger has 80 college chapters, including the University of Georgia and Emory University.

One out of every seven college students visited a food bank last year, Challah for Hunger said.

“Food insecurity on campus is a hidden health crisis that we intend to address through research and advocacy,” Zimmerman said. “We believe that if you work hard and are accepted to college, you shouldn’t have to forfeit basic rights to food, shelter and safety to pursue a higher education.”