This breakout will feature student leaders from across the state of North Carolina who have devoted themselves to educating, organizing, and motivating their academic communities to address hunger at home and abroad.
Featuring the best and brightest leaders of a new generation of activists, this breakout will offer fresh perspective on organizing and activism for social change.
Melissa Duquette
Coordinator, The Campus Kitchen at Wake Forest University (Winston-Salem, NC)
A recent graduate, Melissa is currently serving as an AmeriCorp VISTA volunteer and works with student leaders to facilitate The Campus Kitchen at Wake Forest, an entirely student-run food recycling program that uses cooked (but never served) food from the campus dining hall to make healthy and nutritious meals for the needy of our community.
The kitchen is in it’s 3rd year and had served over 21,000 meals and recovered 15,000+ pounds of food.
Cassie Ann Hoffman
Graduate student, Duke University, Nicholas School of the Environment (Durham, NC)
Cassie Ann Hoffman is a second year graduate student at the Nicholas School of the Environment completing her Masters in Environmental Management. She is Vice-President of the student organization Farmhand, a service-oriented organization that works to build relationships between Duke University students and community farm holders by fostering awareness of the agricultural heritage of the region and knowledge sharing.
Farmhand’s recent work includes: organizing the first annual Fall Festival at Woodcrest Farm in November to celebrate local sustainable agriculture, holding a Community Garden exposition and workshop in collaboration with the Durham Inner City Gardening, initiating a week-long Local Food Challenge engaging 200 participants this past fall, and founding the Duke Community Garden this past December. This spring, Farmhand is working in partnership with faculty at UNC and Duke to present a six-part seminar series on Sustainable Food Systems.
Megan Strickland
Undergraduate, The University of North Carolina (Chapel Hill, NC)
Megan is the Co-Chair of UNC’s Hunger and Homelessness Outreach Program (HOPE)—a social activist, volunteer organization that encourages students to confront homelessness issues facing both the campus and the larger community by bringing attention to the causes and conditions of homelessness through awareness campaigns and providing immediate relief to the hungry and homeless through volunteer programs and clothing drives.
With other members of HOPE, Megan has worked to produce a documentary about homelessness in Chapel Hill, publish a homeless literary magazine, establish a community garden for the hungry/homeless, found a local microfinance initiative, and promote campus and community awareness of hunger and homelessness-related issues through a wide variety of events.
Amanda King
Senior, Arendell Parrott Academy (Kinston, NC)
Amanda, a senior at Arendell Parrott Academy (Kinston, NC) is an activist who has led successful anti-hunger outreach efforts in her high school and faith community around issues of hunger. Her service has extended from eastern North Carolina to Central America – from local soup kitchens to food banks in Washington DC to homeless shelters in Pittsburgh to a rural community in Guatemala.
Amanda is an active member of her school’s SERV Society and has been involved in several Stop Hunger Now food collection efforts. She is a three-time Presidential Service Scholar and finalist for prestigious scholarships related to her legacy of service.
