Greensboro College Hunger Challenge Grand Prize Winners Pictured above (from left to right): Dr. Daniel Malotky, Provost and Vice President of Academic Affairs; Luke Butner, Hunger Ambassador; Xypher Pino, Hunger Ambassador; Rev. Dr. Robert Brewer, Hunger Challenge Mentor; Meg Ham, Food Lion LLC President.
Four North Carolina colleges and universities were awarded a total of $25,000 for their success in the 2023 NC Collegiate Hunger Challenge, an initiative that empowers Student Hunger Ambassadors selected from North Carolina colleges and universities to compete as they raise awareness about food insecurity and collect donations that will stock their campus food pantries. The Hunger Challenge, a partnership between NC Campus Engagement and Food Lion LLC, is now in its fifth year.
The winning campuses (listed below) accepted their prizes at NC Campus Engagement’s 2024 PACE Conference on February 14 at Guilford College. Meg Ham, President of Food Lion LLC, presented the Hunger Challenge teams with their prizes on stage.
The 2023 competition kicked off on September 11, 2023 and concluded on December 22, 2023. Over the course of the challenge, the Student Hunger Ambassadors from the 13 participating campuses organized 116 events that directly impacted over 9,000 students, faculty, and staff on campuses across North Carolina. Combined, they collected nearly 20,000 items to support their campus food pantries.
New this year, the NC Collegiate Hunger Awarded four prizes: A Grand Overall Prize, and a prize for the First-in-Sector campus for 4-year public, 4-year private, and 2-year institutions.
Greensboro College secured the Overall Grand Prize of $10,000. Hunger Ambassadors Xypher and Luke hosted eleven events to engage the Greensboro College student body in activities and food drives that earned points for the challenge. Among the events, including multiple food drives and educational outreach, was their Art Against Hunger Day + Pottery Drive. During this event, students participated in multiple arts-based activities, all themed around hunger awareness, while simultaneously hosting a pottery sale in exchange for canned goods. The creativity and success of Art Against Hunger Day earned the Greensboro College Student Hunger Ambassadors the bonus title, “Most Creative Event.” In addition to this, the GC ambassadors achieved the “Social Media Bonus,” for their record number of social media posts related to the Hunger Challenge.
Greensboro College Hunger Challenge Grand Prize Winners Pictured above (from left to right): Dr. Daniel Malotky, Provost and Vice President of Academic Affairs; Luke Butner, Hunger Ambassador; Xypher Pino, Hunger Ambassador; Rev. Dr. Robert Brewer, Hunger Challenge Mentor.
2023 Sector Prize Winners:
Pictured (from left to right): Dr. Harold Martin, NC A&T Chancellor; T. Sherelle Wofford, Hunger Challenge Mentor; Tayler Scott, Hunger Ambassador; Dr. Dawn Murphy, Assistant Vice Chancellor for Student Development; Meg Ham, Food Lion President
First-in-Sector: 4-year Private – High Point University ($5,000)
Pictured (from left to right): Aonesti Byrd, Hunger Ambassador; Lovelle McMichael, Assistant Director, Center for Community Engagement; Nyila Johnson, Hunger Ambassador; Meg Ham, Food Lion President.
First-in-Sector: 2-year College – Durham Technical Community College ($5,000)
Pictured (from left to right): Jacob Deuterman, Hunger Challenge Mentor; Jessica Zettlemoyer, Hunger Ambassador; Dr. J.B. Buxton, Durham Technical Community College President; Meg Ham, Food Lion President.
The hard work of all the participating campuses will be celebrated during a Spring Celebration Luncheon at the Food Lion headquarters in Salisbury, NC in March 2024.
View the photo gallery below of the many events hosted by the NC Collegiate Hunger Challenge Ambassadors this year!
Since 2019, the Collegiate Hunger Challenge has awarded more than $160,000, equivalent to more than 1.6 million meals*. For more information on Food Lion Feeds’ commitment to ending hunger, visit foodlion.com/feeds.
For more information about the NC Collegiate Hunger Challenge, please contact Sam Delap (sdelap@ncengage.org).
*$1 helps provide at least 10 meals secured by Feeding America® on behalf of local partner food banks.
