Carroll Community College Foundation Inc

The anti-poverty focus of this project takes a two-pronged approach. First, a grocery assistance program provides immediate assistance because it gaurantees the availability of food every week, as well as one hot meal per week at our college canteen cafe. The Food Locker Program also addresses a larger issue of poverty by supporting students educationally. Using Maslow's Hierarchy of Needs, we know that students are motivated to fulfill their basic needs before pursuing higher level needs. Food, along with safety and shelter are some of the most basic needs that all humans have. Once these needs are met, our students can continue on to look towards higher goals of education and achievement. As an aside, Carroll Community Colege students tend to work many hours outside of their school hours. As a guideline, full-time students are advised to work a maximum of 20 hours outside of school. Many students work to make money to stay enrolled in school, and to provide for their families. The Food Locker Program could help to reduce the amount of hours students have to work, creating more time to pursue their educational endeavors. Annual earning potential for young people with at least an Associate's Degree can be as much as $10,000 more than the annual salary of a young person with only a high school diploma.

With donations from our college community, the goal is to provide basic groceries (both perishable and non-perishable) to those in need. If a grocery assistance program can help students to spend more time studying and less time working or can help staff members to focus on their work instead of worrying about food costs, then the Caroll Food Locker will achieve one of its goals. Many students recieve free and reduced breakfasts and lunches throughout their public school years. Just because they have graduated and come to college doesn't mean that their needs are suddenly being met. Once a member of the Food Locker Program, we will have the opportunity to introduce our clients to all of the programs and services offered by the Human Servcie Program (HSP) of Carroll County. We will offer workshops in cooperation with HSP that include financial literacy, decision making, leadership and wellness programming.

Educational hunger is a good thing, physical hunger is not.