The Wichita State University

Hunger Awareness Initiative

Building Your Own Hunger Awareness Initiative:

A Recipe for Success

Presenters: Deborah Ballard-Reisch, Ph.D., David Pan, Ann Hoskinson, Hannah Coen, Cassie Standley, Casey Donnell, Joseph Mutata

What is Food Insecurity?

Limited or uncertain availability of nutritionally adequate foods (USDA)

Trade-offs between important basic needs Adequate food Housing Medical care Transportation

Mission Statement

To raise awareness of hunger To study the nature and scope of food

insecurity on the WSU campus

Five Pillar Model

Colla

borators

Colla

borators

Social Media Facebook Twitter Website Google+

Traditional Media Radio Newspaper Television Posters

Media

Media

Media

Social Media No cost Develop critical

skills Tap the power of

social networks

Media

Facebook 483 likes 12 event pages

facebook.com/WSUHungerAwareness

Media

Twitter 166 followers 716 tweets

@WSUHunger #WSUHunger

Media

Website & blog Depth Content Cohesion Control

wsuhunger.wordpress.com

Media

Google+ Collaboration with

universities statewide Gmail Google Drive “Hangout”

Media

Traditional media

Events

Events

Fall 2011 Communication Week

WSU Hunger Awareness Presentation

Numana Lunch COMM 111 food drive

571 lbs. collected

Events

Events

Events

Fall 2011 1St Hunger Awareness Day

21,816 meals packaged 171 volunteers

1St Dinner and Conversation 50 attendees 7 focus groups 4 individual interviews

Events

Spring 2012 2nd Dinner and Conversation

75 participants Analyzed potential solutions

Hunger Survey Quantitative Survey intended release fall 2012 Piloted the survey with over 100 WSU community

members

Events

Fall 2012 Communication Week (Oct. 17th

& 18th) Campus-Wide Food Drive

4,700 lbs of food raised for the Kansas Food Bank

Presentation Campus Hunger Survey Launch

(Oct. 18th) Over 1,000 responses

Events

Fall 2012 (cont.) 2nd Hunger Awareness Day

(Oct. 20) Shocker Lifeline to End

HungerWSU community passed

food hand to hand to the Kansas Food Bank’s truck

3rd Dinner and Conversation

Events

Spring 2013 8th Annual Universities Fighting World Hunger Summit

Presentation of the four pillar model Freeze Mob

24 student participants Recognition by the Student Government Association

SGA resolution to encourage campus-wide participation in the annual food drive

Events

Fall 2013 4th Dinner and Conversation

(Oct. 19) 2nd Shocker Lifeline to End

Hunger (Oct. 24) Interview with KAKE news

Events

Fall 2013 Global Food Security Lecture at

the Ulrich Museum of Art (Oct. 24) Discussed food insecurity along

the Amazon River Basin of Peru

Raised money for Angels of the Amazon

University communities are under-researched in terms of hunger

Existing research does not capture this population well

The Need for Research

Engaged Scholarship

“… a collaborative form of inquiry in which academics and practitioners leverage their different perspectives and competence in co-producing knowledge about complex problems.” 

Van de Ven & Johnson (2006, p. 803)

Methodology

Four faces of engaged scholarship Applied communication Practical theory Activism & social justice Collaborative learning

Methodology

Community based participatory research

Research is grounded in the community Minkler &

Wallerstein (2008)

Emphasizes research that translates into sustainable community-based action

Israel et al. (2005)

Methodology

Methods

Qualitative inquiry Focus groups One-on-one

interviews Quantitative survey

Emergent themes - qualitative

Shame, stigma, pride Low nutrition / inexpensive food Income instability Support system Food assistance Scarcity of time Economic conditions

Research

Research

Past Presentations

Universities Fighting World Hunger Summit 2013 KU Graduate Research Summit 2013 Kansas Public Health Association Conference 2012 Graduate Research and Scholarly Projects

Symposium 2012 Universities Fighting World Hunger Summit 2012 Capital Graduate Research Summit 2012 SWTX / Popular Culture Association 2012 Conference

Community Engagement

Ulrich Museum Food Desert Panel 2013 Universities Fighting World Hunger Summit 2013 Wiley College: Ethical Student Leadership Conference

2013 Hutchinson Community College Faculty Senate 2012 Southwestern College: Lunches with Leaders 2012 Elliott School: Communication Week 2012

Community Engagement

Kansas Hunger Dialogue 2012 Southwestern College: Health Week 2011 Elliott School: Communication Week 2011

What could you do with this model?

For More Information

Hunger Awareness at Wichita State University

@WSUHunger #WSUHunger

wsuhunger.wordpress.com