Food Insecurity: How Local Food and Hygiene Drives can Help Answer the Call to Hunger

By Mackenzie A. McDonald, Monmouth University, BSW Class of 2023

wanted to contribute both financially and with logistics.

After both clubs as well as the school approved the idea, we were able to set boxes all around campus. The boxes were located on both the academic side as well as the residential side of campus, with a flier describing what the drive was for, what we were looking to collect, and where the materials collected would be donated to. These boxes stayed on campus for a week while students were packing up to go home at the end of the semester. This time proved to be the most effective and efficient in collecting items to be donated. Students were able to easily drop off unwanted goods to collection boxes located in the lobbies of residential buildings. This ideal location allowed students to see the collection boxes as they came into the building, encouraging them to donate, and also allowed for easy pick-up and monitoring by those collecting the boxes to be dropped off at the foodbanks.

Over two days the chemistry club president and I collected the boxes from their designated areas around Monmouth University’s campus. Boxes were filled to the brim and in most cases, overflowing with goods ready to be donated to those in need. Items ranged from microwavable rice to men’s and women’s razors. We could not be more happy with the items collected, as they would be put to good use by those who are less fortunate in the surrounding communities.

The outcome of this drive was something I could have never imagined. With this food and hygiene drive, we were able to collect over 1,000 pounds of goods to be donated. A large portion of donations, 997 pounds, was donated to the Fulfill food bank, located in Neptune, NJ. This organization works to end food insecurity and hunger by providing meals across Monmouth and Ocean Counties. Fulfill offers various means of distributing collected goods, ranging from mobile pantries to drive-up. In addition, Fulfill also provides SNAP enrollment assistance, as well as culinary training for those less fortunate. We were also able to donate two large boxes (over 70 pounds) full of collection items to the Shore House, located in Long Branch, NJ, a community resource for adults with mental illnesses. The food and hygiene products donated to the Shore House will be used to cook meals for their members and ensure they have the hygiene products necessary to conduct daily life.

This food and hygiene drive allowed me to donate items that would otherwise have ended up as garbage. Without this drive, it is very possible that these items would have been left behind at school, in the garbage, filling surrounding landfills with unnecessary solid waste. Hence, conducting this drive shows that there is an environmental component as well, reducing the amount of solid waste generated by college students moving out at the end of a school year, all while helping the surrounding community.

While creating and actually completing the drive, I learned about how food goes to waste and that there are so many individuals and families it could be helping. I was extremely grateful to see this project from start to finish, knowing I had support from staff members and classmates but also to see how much it impacted the community. We look forward to conducting this drive in 2023, and (hopefully) surpassing our record of collected goods. We would like to thank everyone who donated to the drive, as without them, none of this would have been possible.

According to the U.S. Department of Justice data on sex crimes, people living with disabilities are seven times more likely to be sexually abused in their lifetimes than people without disabilities.1 There is a pressing need to reevaluate how we can provide an inclusive and effective comprehensive sex education (CSE) learning experience for youth with disabilities (YWD). It’s imperative YWD are taught to identify inappropriate touching, the power of consent, and how to recognize when a relationship is unhealthy or abusive. Teachers trained in CSE can deliver appropriate instruction according to the student’s developmental stages with a focus on victimization. 2

Learning about sexuality is a very normal part of human development, but YWD are regularly excluded from general education classes, and alternative arrangements with appropriate accommodations are rarely made. Excluding YWD from or barring access to CSE contributes to the vulnerability of these individuals and increases isolation from their mainstream peers. Specially designed sex education curricula focusing on anatomy, consent, boundaries, respect, and romantic relationships is vital for YWD. Less than 100 years ago, people with disabilities were forcibly sterilized, locked away in same-sex institutions, and punished for having an interest in