通过精心策划的服务学习项目和有影响力的社区参与机会(ceo), Ms. Halfi正在向足球波胆平台的内部社区介绍围绕获得食物的众多问题，重点关注特洛伊城目前的需求. 

女士. Halfi, the focus on Troy was a no-brainer. 她分享, “在美国和世界各地，粮食获取和粮食不安全都是一个突出的问题, 特别是在足球波胆平台的城市. 足球波胆平台坐落在一个非常美丽的社区，离足球波胆平台不远的街道上就有一些社区在为食品安全而挣扎.”

粮食不安全是一个非常复杂的问题，它正在悄悄地向全球各地的社区发动战争. 根据 United States Department of Agriculture, 超过3400万人, 其中九百万是儿童, in the United States alone are deemed food insecure. 定义为一个家庭中每个人都无法持续获得足够的食物来维持活跃的生活, 健康生活(美国供养), food insecurity can be a temporary situation or can last a long time. Exacerbated by the COVID-19 pandemic, 在有孩子的家庭和边缘社区中，粮食不安全问题急剧增加, who already faced hunger at much higher rates before the pandemic.

重要的是要明白，该国的每个社区都有面临饥饿的家庭. 令人惊讶的是, 农村和农场社区——正是种植农作物来养活世界人口的地方——面临着比城市地区更高的饥饿率. 绘制膳食差距图该报告显示，2021年11%的农村家庭粮食不安全. Currently, 63% of all counties in the United States are rural. In examining US counties with high rates of food insecurity, the study also found that 87% were rural.

No matter which landscape we choose to investigate, the facts show that many families in America struggle to meet their basic needs, increasing their risk of food insecurity. Low-income families in particular are affected by multiple, overlapping issues like lack of affordable housing, 社会隔离, economic/social disadvantage resulting from structural racism, chronic or acute health problems, 高昂的医疗费用, 低工资. Many households that experience these hardships surprisingly do not qualify for 联邦营养计划 例如SNAP和WIC, and rely on their local food banks and other sustenance programs for extra support.

感谢女士. Halfi, 艾玛威拉德的学生有机会走进足球波胆平台自己的后院，承认足球波胆平台社区的需求，并向帮助足球波胆平台自己的邻居伸出援手. CEOs take weekend activities by storm, 拥有一个完全完整的志愿者名单和等待名单，每周的参与机会. 为ceo们做志愿者, students are able to explore many aspects of food access through various organizations. 

他说:“足球波胆平台去食品储藏室，每周在那里向社区成员分发食品, but every few weeks we go to the food bank, 这是一个巨大的仓库，从大公司和食品连锁店发送大量捐款，然后分发到像食品储藏室这样的地方. 对于学生们来说，能够看到食物分配的不同阶段是非常有趣的. 在更亲密的层面上, we also work with local shelters like Joseph's House, where we are preparing a meal to be served at the shelter. 他们看到了所有不同的角度，以保持一个挣扎于食物获取的社区.”

“周六早上和很多学生一起去当地的食品分发处工作，这真的是一次令人大开眼界的经历,她继续说道. “足球波胆平台真的上了车, and we drive about two minutes, 然后足球波胆平台在食品分发处，他们看到许多社区成员前来领取食品杂货，以补充他们能够为家人提供的食物. 有时他们(学生们)在食品分发处做的工作可能会让人觉得平凡或微不足道, 但我总是试图让学生参与对话，讨论为什么这份工作对这个组织和这个社区很重要. 他们得到了. It's really great that they understand without volunteers like them, the organizations would not be able to serve the communities, 而且他们也无法将食品分发处收到的捐款进行更多的分配.”

In addition to the CEO opportunities, the 11th grade READY program is being used as a platform to further support this mission. In collaboration with Director of READY Programs Evangeline Delgado, Ms. Halfi调整了项目课程，将重点放在美国和世界各地的食物获取上. 学生们正在进行对话，并“思考粮食不安全如何影响足球波胆平台的直接社区——采取了什么样的政策，要么延续这种不平等，要么试图纠正这种不平等?” Ms. Halfi’s programming message is simple: to achieve a hunger-free America, we must address the root causes of hunger: structural and systemic inequities.

The ongoing fight against food insecurities is not one that can be won alone, but requires all hands on deck. 社区参与机会和服务学习是两个最强的途径来探索时，问自己艾玛威拉德学校社区可以真正站起来为足球波胆平台的邻居. Ms. Halfi defined both in her own words:    

“对我来说, community engagement is the big, broad umbrella of how we as individuals, 一个机构, take responsibility for caring for our community. Underneath that, there are many different ways to engage with our community. 还有社会影响项目，不仅仅是走出去和非营利组织合作, 它还包括学习政策是如何制定的，以及不同社会政治制度的历史背景是如何造成不平等的. It's about learning how to use your voice to create change within a community. Then there's this idea of service learning within educational institutions, 教师有机会将自己的课程内容与社区的需求联系起来:对我来说，这就是教育的巅峰. Service learning is the best of both worlds. 你在创造更持久的学习，因为学生们明白这背后是有目的的, and you're also helping to create the slightest change in the world. Even if it's impacting one person in the community, that's still moving the needle to help create change.”

To access local food insecurity data in the United States, explore 绘制膳食差距图. 选择你的州, 县或地区的互动地图，以了解更多关于你所在社区的粮食不安全问题和为他们服务的粮食银行.