Don’t toss away all those leftover declining points just yet — there’s still a little time to help some fellow Bruins put them to good use.
Bruins Against Hunger is an initiative whereby students can donate goods purchased with leftover declining points to the Nashville Rescue Mission. Before April 20, students can drop off any non-perishable goods throughout the week at donation locations inside What’s Bruin and Corner Court. Perishable goods can be donated at the Caf on Fridays as well.
The result is those extra declining points, which do not carry over into next semester, will help serve an organization that supports the hungry and homeless in Nashville.
Bruins Against Hunger started as a senior capstone project between public relations major Bronwyn Mills and accounting major Madison O’Connell.
“We wanted to find a way to help reduce the waste on campus that we saw,” said Mills. “I am just really proud that it’s happening.”
Mills shares those sentiments with O’Connell, who stated that between Student Government Association donations, university support and Sodexo’s assistance, the program is off to a swifter start than they ever expected.
“The best part is actually seeing it happen,” O’Connell said. “There was a point where we had a meeting and we were like, ‘is this actually going to be a thing?’”
But the team behind Bruins Against Hunger doesn’t end at Mills and O’Connell; international business major Danny DeForest and biology major Thomas Webb joined along the way, playing crucial roles in outreach and volunteer recruitment, respectively.
For DeForest, the project is an opportunity for college students to extend their privilege to others without an added financial burden.
“We want to give back to the community, and sometimes the best way to give back is through finances,” DeForest said. “But us as college students, hardly any of us feel comfortable or able to do so right now … we’ll be able to actually make some lasting change and feed people.”
Webb echoed those feelings.
“We’re empowering the students to be able to turn what is typically been like a negative situation, potentially losing these points,” said Webb. “And turn that into some good for the community.”
A long-term goal of the group is to establish Bruins Against Hunger as a yearly tradition rather than a one-off capstone project. O’Connell said it would take time but was totally feasible.
“We have really strong partners at Belmont to help us coordinate this every year,” O’Connell said. “I think that’s something that students are interested in.”
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This article was written by Justin Wagner.