Every Spring, the National Student Campaign Against Hunger and Homelessness hosts this regional conference focused on hunger, homelessness, and poverty-related issues. After hosting a successful national conference this fall at the University of Southern California, the National Student Campaign organized this past weekend’s east coast event with workshops, panel discussions, innovative programming ideas, and fun networking opportunities. Here’s the website for the summit, with more info: http://www.studentsagainsthunger.org/ecsummit/ecsummit.asp?id2=28639.

The National Student Campaign Against Hunger & Homelessness is committed to ending hunger and homelessness in America by educating, engaging, and training students to directly meet individuals’ immediate needs while advocating for long-term systemic solutions. You can learn more  by visiting their website: http://www.studentsagainsthunger.org/

Many thanks to the organizers & students who made this conference such a great event – here are a couple pictures from the weekend!

This past weekend, I had the opportunity to present at the 2006 Annual Fall Hunger and Homelessness Conference at the University of Southern California in Los Angeles.  This conference was attended by around 400 students from all around the country, and is actually the largest gathering of student leaders focused on hunger and homelessness issues.  I had a lot of fun, and was pleased to have the opportunity to connect with students from so many different schools.

For me, this was a singular experience because I actually attended this conference for the first time a number of years ago, when I was still a student myself.  I was, at that point, attending graduate school for Counseling.  Though I’d always been service-oriented, it wasn’t until later in my college career (very much through events like this conference) that I decided to give up the idea of counseling and focus my career in the non-profit/social venture realm.  I’ve always been very thankful to the folks at the National Student Campaign Against Hunger and Homelessness for introducing me to so many caring and like-minded individuals and organizations.  Such conferences give students a great gateway into getting more involved, and are also great ways that students can raise their own awareness about different issues.  It was a landmark day for me to actually be presenting at this conference, and I was glad to see such a great turnout for Better World Books.  Thanks to all the students that attended!  We’re looking forward to working with you.