ECU takes first place in Collegiate Hunger Challenge

East Carolina University has taken first place and a $10,000 prize in the third annual Collegiate Hunger Challenge, a competition among North Carolina colleges and universities to raise awareness about hunger and food insecurity in the state.

The Collegiate Hunger Challenge was created by Food Lion Feeds and North Carolina Campus Compact, a collaborative network of colleges and universities committed to educating students for civic and social responsibility. Institutions earned points based on participation in activities centered on collecting and donating food for neighbors in need or on hunger awareness efforts.

As part of the challenge, each school nominated an MVP Student Hunger Ambassador to be responsible for leading the effort on its campus. ECU selected Iyaira Williams, a sophomore public health major, to lead the campaign. Williams was selected due to her passion for fighting food insecurity in Greenville and at ECU. The faculty/staff mentor was Lauren Howard, interim associate director in the Center for Leadership and Civic Engagement (CLCE).

Williams said the prize money will be used to enhance the efforts ECU is already making to combat food insecurity.

“We’re fortunate enough to be on a campus that already had a Purple Pantry,” she said. “So we just want to promote those [food pantries] to students to make sure they understand the purpose, how they can use it, and that it’s free.”

Currently there are Purple Pantry locations in the main campus and health sciences campus student centers, as well as a Purple Pantry Express in the CLCE office and a Mini Purple Pantry outside the Old Cafeteria Complex. Future goals include expanding access by adding more locations, raising awareness, and creating a meal plan scholarship to support individual students.

“You can’t do well in class if you’re hungry,” Williams said. But the Purple Pantry offers more than just food. “We have laundry detergent, dish soap, toothbrushes and feminine products; we have a lot of stuff.”

For more information or to support the Purple Pantry, email Williams at williamsiy20@students.ecu.edu or Howard at howardl16@ecu.edu.

About Food Lion

Food Lion, based in Salisbury, N.C., since 1957, has more than 1,100 stores in 10 Southeastern and Mid-Atlantic states and employs more than 82,000 associates. Through Food Lion Feeds, the company has donated more than 750 million meals to individuals and families since 2014 and has committed to donate 1.5 billion meals by 2025. Food Lion is a company of Ahold Delhaize USA, the U.S. division of Zaandam-based Ahold Delhaize.

About North Carolina Campus Compact

North Carolina Campus Compact is a collaborative network of colleges and universities committed to educating students for civic and social responsibility, partnering with communities for positive change, and strengthening democracy. www.nccampuscompact.org

Available Photos

ECU’s Purple Pantry and other efforts to address food insecurity earned first place in the Collegiate Hunger Challenge. (ECU Photo by Rhett Butler)

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Contact: Lauren Howard, director, Center for Leadership and Civic Engagement, HowardL16@ecu.edu

Telephone: 252-737-1669