Photo by Lydia Freudenberg
In the late 1950s, Shirley Brooks-Jones was working in an advising office at The Ohio State University, seeing many students’ faces each day.
One face stood out, though: a young male student from India who kept getting thinner.
Concerned for his health, Brooks-Jones eventually asked the student if he was in need of help. She learned that he was a vegetarian for religious purposes and was afraid to ask the campus food halls for no meat and more vegetables. Before 1960, he was dead of malnutrition.
Brooks-Jones, now a member and soon-to-be president of the Tri-Village Lions Club, says she did not realize his situation was so serious, and still thinks of ways she could have helped.
Since 1960, OSU has acknowledged the problem of student hunger. In 2016, the university conducted a survey and determined that 15 percent of students, approximately 7,000, live in food insecurity. With the cost of tuition, school supplies, housing and other expenses, food sometimes becomes the lowest priority.
OSU is doing its part by making sure students who live on campus have meal plans, and students are also working to feed the hungry.
In 2016, a student-run 501(c)(3) organization, the Buckeye Food Alliance (BFA), opened up a food bank on campus. Today, the Tri-Village Lions Club has teamed up with BFA to help collect food and get the word out about student hunger.
“When we started working with (BFA), that student from India popped into my head, and he has been with me ever since,” says Brooks-Jones. “I’m sure there are others who don’t want to admit they don’t have enough, so what we need to do is make is easier for students to come in and get food.”
Jane Jarrow, past president of the Lions Club and now chair of its service committee, initially proposed working with the BFA for the club’s centennial service challenge, a project that honors Lions Club International’s 100th anniversary.
“When people think of hunger and people going hungry… they don’t think of kids going to school at Ohio State,” says Jarrow.
The statistics are real, though. So the Lions Club is doing its part.
Photo by Lydia Freudenberg
“Our job is to support (BFA),” says Jarrow. “What we are hoping to do is raise awareness in the community. We think there are a lot of folks who would help if they understood the need.”
Jarrow has collected nonperishable food from other club members and has personally delivered it to the BFA, but she has higher hopes. She has been reaching out to other local Lions Clubs, community organizations and even restaurants, informing them on the facts of student hunger and encouraging them to get involved and make a difference.
“It’s using the connections we have to make connections with other people who can make a difference,” says Jarrow. “(BFA) doesn’t have many contacts outside of campus; we do. We have contacts in the community and we have contacts in the administration of OSU that they may be unable to reach.”
Brooks-Jones, also a member of the Ohio State Retirees Association, has had opportunities to speak to prominent OSU decision-makers about student food insecurities. She’s even brought it up with OSU President Michael Drake at an association meeting.
“I think it’s really good that I have had the experience at OSU; it makes it easier to reach out,” says Brooks-Jones. “And (now) the president is aware of it … so, hopefully, they’re getting the word out,”
Photo by Lydia Freudenberg
Still, challenges remain when it comes to convincing others that student food insecurity does exist on campuses like OSU’s. Jarrow says many people ask, “If you can afford to go to college, what do you mean you don’t have enough money to eat?”
Nevertheless, the Lions Club refuses to give up on spreading the word.
Alec Admonius, president and co-founder of the BFA, says the Lions Club is one of the alliance’s most passionate groups of supporters, specifically mentioning Jarrow, who started the efforts and provides the helpful connections.
“The Lions have helped BFA in a number of different ways,” says Admonius. “They’ve organized food drives among their members, provided us with various speaking opportunities to help raise awareness for our cause and offered countless words of advice and encouragement.”
Admonius says the club has helped by spreading the word of the BFA outside of campus, for which he and his colleagues are thankful.
“We do plan on having our relationship with the Lions continue, hopefully for as long as we are in existence,” Admonius says.
Jarrow says club members call themselves “Friends of the Buckeye Food Alliance” and are there to make things easier for the BFA. They hope to also continue their relationship with the BFA long past the centennial service challenge ends in December.
“We are committed to doing what we can to help, and we feel that we are doing that,” says Jarrow. “If we convince one more person there is a problem and one more person says, ‘What can I do to help?’ we’ve done something.”
Those interested in donating to the BFA can contact Jarrow at lionjjarrow@gmail.com or visit www.buckeyefoodalliance.org for further information.
Lydia Freudenberg is a contributing writer. Feedback welcome at gbishop@cityscenemediagroup.com.
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