At the second annual Food Waste and Hunger Summit, Lee students Brad LaChapell and Christina Sarmiento were awarded with the 2015 Harvester Award. This award was presented by the Campus Kitchens Project during the conference at the University of Georgia, hosted by CKP and the Food Recovery Network.
According to Linda Kurtz, community engagement manager for CKP, the Harvester award is usually given to one student that has applied his or her diverse knowledge successfully to Campus Kitchens, but since Mr. LaChapell and Ms. Sarmiento had achieved such results collaboratively, they both received the award this year. “It was wonderful to see that these two were not only nominated by staff in their service learning office, but also nominated one another,” said Ms. Kurtz.
“Brad and Christina reflect the genuineness of heart and service that Lee University hopes to build in the life of our students,” said Dr. William Lamb, director of Lee’s Leonard Center. “Their leadership is a stable factor in Lee’s community outreach and food distribution to those in need.”
Mr. LaChapell and Ms. Sarmiento are co-directors of the Campus Kitchen at Lee University, where they manage the Saturday morning grocery distribution in the Cleveland area known as Crossover. This includes recovering 1,200 pounds of food, packing the food into grocery bags, and delivering it to over 200 community members.
“Their faithful service has not only impacted the lives of hundreds in the Cleveland community, but it has also created a context in which students can cultivate a heart of service that is open to others,” said Tyler Shores, special projects assistant at the Leonard Center. “Their attention to the development and empowerment of other leaders has ensured that the mission and purpose of Crossover will continue long after their time at Lee has come to a close.”
Along with the Saturday morning food distribution, the co-directors have created a social enterprise business opportunity that allows their clients to sell artistic products for a profit. With this extension of CKP, Mr. LaChapell and Ms. Sarmiento have generated over $1,100 for their clients.
“It was a great honor to win the award with Christina, first because I respect and enjoy working with CKP, and second because I respect Christina so much,” said Mr. LaChapell. “I nominated her because she is so gifted in serving people with all that she is—her gifts, abilities, personality, and her whole heart. As a Christian, she embodies what it truly means to serve. I appreciate all that she does and is in this community.”
The Food Waste and Hunger Summit convenes student leaders who are pioneering solutions to the interrelated problems of food insecurity and food waste and is sponsored by CKP.
Founded in 2001, CKP is a national organization that empowers student volunteers to fight hunger in their community. On 45 university and high school campuses across the country, students transform unused food from dining halls, grocery stores, restaurants, and farmers’ markets into meals that are delivered to local agencies serving those in need.
For more information about CKP, visit www.campuskitchens.org.
Founded in 2011, FRN has grown to include chapters at over 100 colleges and universities in 30 states that have recovered more than 500,000 pounds of food. For more information about the FRN, visit http://www.foodrecoverynetwork.org/.