After serving an Americorps term of service through the Power of We at the Greater Lansing Food Bank, I was able to retain employment, continuing to coordinate volunteers. I've also picked up the task of outreach coordination, IT support, and some design work. I act as a fill in driver for food runs with Food Movers and assist with teaching some classes on gardening for the Garden Project. Food Movers and the Garden Project are both programs of the Greater Lansing Food Bank.
I moved home to Lansing in January 2010, after a few years in and out of the country, post graduating. I worked on farms in New Zealand, Colorado and New Hampshire, I worked construction in Turkey, and as a chef in a tapas restaurant and wine bar in New Hampshire. I found it was time to move back to Lansing and reinvest those skills and experiences into the place that raised me. My desires and demands for a sustainable and just food system, demanded that I invest in my local community and, for better or worse, Lansing is that community. In America, and much of the developed world, we have the luxury of choosing where we want to live, many people do not. I think it's important for us to invest in and improve the places that we may want to leave, to transform them into the places we'd like them to be. It is this sort of thought process and emotional investment that find me excited to be working with the Greater Lansing Food Bank. Even within the food bank world, the Greater Lansing Food Bank is extremely progressive. We provide many alternatives to the traditional emergency food rations of cans and non-perishables and branch out into food rescue, food contracts with farmers, and gardens support. These programs do multiple things including reducing waste, supporting the local economy, increasing the nutritious food in the system, and securing the longevity of the food system through sustainable approaches of growing food. We are able to cultivate community, connections, food and food security. Most importantly, we are local. We cover the three counties of Greater Lansing and every dollar in from the community, stays in the community.
| Job Title: |
Volunteer and Outreach Coordinator, Design and IT Liasion |
| Company: |
Greater Lansing Food Bank |
| College: |
University of Michigan, English, Program in the Environment, Geology, Ann Arbor, MI
|
| High School: |
Laingsburg High School, Laingsburg, MI
|
| Lives In: |
Lansing |