Food2Kids was named “Organization of the Year” during the 18th Annual H. Gordon and Francis S. Davis Student Organization Achievement and Recognition Awards, given out April 16 at the Tate Student Center. The SOAR Awards celebrate the accomplishments of student organizations at the University of Georgia.
Food2Kids partners with the Northeast Georgia Food Bank to provide weekend meal packages to children who are facing food insecurity. The packages are used to help eliminate the “hunger gap,” the time between the last meal at school on Fridays and the first meal on Mondays.
The students who work with Food2Kids facilitate the bagging of the meals and also coordinate fundraising efforts for the Food Bank, helping increase the number of children served annually from 80 to more than 650 over the past few years.
Food2Kids Co-President Carly Esposito, a fourth-year exercise and sport science major from Milton, also received the Bulldog Vision award at the ceremony.
Other award categories and their recipients are as follows:
- Most Innovative Program: UGA Votes for its efforts to increase voter registration among students.
- Organizational Improvement: Pre-Counseling Club for working to increase intentional membership among students hoping to enter “helping professions” and become counselors.
- Organizational Collaboration: Journal of Language & Literacy Education and the Language & Literacy Education Graduate Organization for working together to increase participation and resources for their Fall Speaker Series and Winter Pre-Conference Workshop.
- Outstanding Campus Event (Small): ServeUGA’s “Dawg Day of Service” for inspiring 428 students to volunteer at 18 sites across the community, resulting in 1,040 hours of service.
- Outstanding Campus Event (Large): Shop with a Bulldog for supporting local children and families with a shopping and entertainment program during the holiday season.
- Outstanding New Organization: Girls in Healthcare for providing a positive, supportive network for female students pursuing careers in health care.
- Commitment to Social Justice: IMPACT Service Breaks for working to incorporate social justice into its service-learning spring and winter break strips that span 22 cities with 16 social justice topics.
- Outstanding Cross-Cultural Program: OUTLaw/Stonewall Law Student Association’s “Out: An Oral History of UGA Law’s Queer Faculty and Staff, an opportunity for faculty and staff to discuss their experiences navigating their LGBTQ identities at the law school and in practice.
- Outstanding Service to the Community (Small): Designated Dawgs for providing free, safe transportation for students on weekends.
- Outstanding Service to the Community (Large): Serving Others Unconditional Love (SOUL) for working with community service organizations to connect with underserved populations and build genuine relationships through meaningful conversations.
- Pillar of the Community: Kristina Petti of the Department of Germanic and Slavic Studies.
- Advisor of the Year: Lindsey Welch, advisor to the American Pharmacists Association – Academy of Student Pharmacists.
- Candice Sherman Emerging Leader: Autumn Pressley, Student Alumni Association.
- Bulldog Vision: Carly Esposito, co-president of Food2Kids.
This year, more than 150 nominations were judged by a panel of 30 faculty and staff members.
There are currently 765 registered student organizations on campus.
The awards are sponsored by the Center for Student Activities and Involvement within the Tate Student Center. For more information, see http://involvement.uga.edu.