Class project at Gavilan’s Hollister campus collects donations
for Community Food Bank
A three-week project designed to help Gavilan College
communication students practice their powers of persuasion by
encouraging support of a local food bank will have life beyond the
classroom.
Class project at Gavilan’s Hollister campus collects donations for Community Food Bank
A three-week project designed to help Gavilan College communication students practice their powers of persuasion by encouraging support of a local food bank will have life beyond the classroom.
Students from Adrian Andrade’s introduction to public speaking and small group communication courses at Gavilan’s downtown Hollister site spent the end of the recently-completed semester raising awareness for The Community Pantry. Now they are using social media sites such as Facebook and Craigslist to continue the effort, which brought more than a half-ton of food.
“In both of my classes students learn about persuasive speech, so their job was to go out and persuade others to donate or to get involved with the pantry,” said Andrade, who also teaches at California State University, Monterey Bay.
“We heard things were pretty bad out there and the (donation) can in the hall (at the Briggs Building) was dry as a bone.”
In groups of three, students were told to form their own co-op and encourage others to help the nonprofit food bank that for 21 years has helped low-income San Benito County residents put food on their tables. Carlos Rojas of The Community Pantry said the Gavilan effort brought in 1,122 pound of food in May.
“No money was supposed to come out of any (student’s) pocket,” Andrade said. “Students had to use their communication skills to solicit and to communicate awareness about the pantry’s needs. It was a pretty good little effort.”
Andrade’s first semester classes did the same project, so he wanted to repeat it during the spring semester because students – ranging in age from 18 to middle-age – “enjoyed the real-life component,” he said.
“Some chose to raise money and go to Costco and buy food to donate and some were actually raiding their own parents’ pantries,” Andrade said. “Cans were put out at people’s place of business and one group went to various supermarkets asking for donations” as customers left the store.
Student Letty Saenz’s group posted a notice on Craigslist under the title “Students unite for Community Pantry.”
“Join Gavilan College students as we work together to put food on the shelves at the Community Pantry and support our neighbors in Hollister, CA” they wrote, adding a link to a Facebook page that also encourages donations.
The posting sought donations of non-perishable food items at Gavilan’s Hollister site and offered to help people organize food collection with friends or co-workers.
“This was a project that was designed for the semester, but it’s also long term,” Saenz said. “For me, it’s about giving back to the community. I believe that what comes around goes around. You never know, I might be one of those who needs help down the road. I want to teach my kids that it’s important to give to people who are not as fortunate as we are.”
