BELLAIRE • MEMORIAL • RIVER OAKS • TANGLEWOOD • WEST UNIVERSITY

Tackling hunger in Houston

By Nathan Gardstein, age 18 | April 1, 2016

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Nathan Gardstein, a senior at The Emery/Weiner School, has volunteered with the Souper Bowl of Caring. (Photo: Kristine Canterbury)

Every year at my school, I am required to do a certain number of community-service hours. After working with different organizations, I finally found work I felt passionately about with the Souper Bowl of Caring.

This charity works with the Houston Texans and is organized around the Super Bowl, aiming to tackle hunger. After being selected to serve on the Houston Youth Advisory Board, I attended an orientation session where we learned about hunger in the nation and in Houston. Before then, I had never really thought about the fact that one in six people in Houston suffers from food insecurity. I didn’t realize that many of those are children.

The students involved in the Souper Bowl of Caring run fundraisers and serve as ambassadors for the organization, to raise awareness and money to tackle hunger. In Houston, many of the funds raised go to the Houston Food Bank, where every one dollar is leveraged to provide three meals.

I had the opportunity to serve on the Houston and National Advisory Board for Souper Bowl of Caring. Each time we met, we brainstormed on fundraising activities. We learned about media relations and how to crisply deliver a message. We also performed community service aligned with our mission, such as working at the food bank and volunteering at a homeless shelter.

At Super Bowl time this year, I hosted several fundraisers and represented the Souper Bowl of Caring on television and radio. I found a cause that I care about a lot and an organization that is making a difference, with $9.5 million in donations so far this year. I don’t think about my time spent on Souper Bowl of Caring as getting the requisite community-service hours. I think about how I can make a positive difference in at least one life.

Editor’s note: If you’d like to get involved, see tacklehunger.org.

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