Universities Fighting World Hunger began in 2004 with a partnership between the United Nations' World Food Programme (WFP) and Auburn University. It has since expanded to become a global network of students; a worldwide web of people “calling for a world free from hunger and malnutrition” (
UFWH Auburn). Our club's specific mission here at
John Cabot University is to raise awareness within the JCU community about world famine, food loss, and waste, while tackling those issues on a local scale. We share the UFWH long-term goal of achieving Zero Hunger by 2030, and our efforts reflect this purpose.
We hold weekly meetings during which we discuss specific topics related to world hunger. There is no need to already be fully informed about issues raised during our meetings: curiosity and a propensity toward awareness is the strength of our members.
We also often invite speakers from prestigious organizations fighting famine such as Oxfam and the UN’s Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) in order to share professionals’ insights into world hunger with JCU's student body. As members of the global family of Universities Fighting World Hunger, we envision a student community increasingly aware of the inequalities that plague human beings worldwide. We aim to render our JCU family more attentive to and conscious of the value of food and the collateral costs of food loss.
In the past few years, we have been successfully organizing food drives at John Cabot University with the partnership of Vo.Re.Co and Banco Alimentare, two local non-profit organizations that assist underprivileged communities here in Rome. Moreover, since we have the privilege of
studying in Rome, we occasionally organize field trips to FAO headquarters with the aim of educating the student body about the Sustainable Development Goals.
As we believe that change starts with an individual action, the main aim of our club is to empower others to take action toward fighting world hunger issues. In Fall 2018, through initiating canned food drives, we were able to collect the largest amount of canned and non-perishable food in the history of club and we can surely say it is only the beginning!
Apart from the immense value of food donations to organizations such as Vo.Re.Co., food drives are an incredible moment when the strength, unity, and kind-heartedness of John Cabot University students really shows.
Soalandy Barbier, President of UFWH, tells us, "We learned to target food waste in our community, and ended up collecting considerable amounts of food donations without anyone spending a penny. If you give passion and hard work to the club, it can be incredibly rewarding. "
Katya Umanets, our Social Media Manager, says, "I love seeing the support and encouragement that the JCU community gives to our club. Students, faculty, and staff, who support our mission, are the biggest source of motivation for UFWH. New ideas and suggestions, active participation in food drives, or simply compliments and 'thank you' emails: this all means a lot to us!"
Getting more active every semester, Universities Fighting World Hunger is an ever-growing family, always willing to welcome everyone’s visions, insights, and energy to our initiatives and projects.
So,
- if you are eager to make the world a better place;
- if you are passionate about food security issues and want to fight world hunger with us;
- if you want to meet people that share your views:...come and join Universities Fighting World Hunger club!
Kamila Sabyrrakhim, Treasurer
International Affairs major, Class of 2019
Hometown: Astana, Kazakhstan
Giacomo Di Capua, Vice-President
International Affairs major, Class of 2021
Hometown: Rome, Italy