On September 28, Grade 7 students volunteered at the SF-Marin Food Bank and participated in a Hunger 101 simulation. This experience was part of their ongoing study of food insecurity and homelessness. Throughout the year students will be learning more about these issues. Many students will volunteer with Lava Mae, a nonprofit that provides food, clothing, and hygiene for thousands of people in San Francisco. In the spring, Hamlin students will put their own problem-solving skills to work as part of our Rise to the Challenge project. For RTC they will conduct intense research and come up with action-oriented solutions.

As more and more people struggle to make ends meet, the need for the SF-Marin Food Bank has grown in recent years. On a weekly basis 30,000 families are fed by the SF-Marin Food bank through 450 Bay Area community partners. Before volunteering, Hamlin students took a brief tour of the warehouse and learned about the mission and overall operation. The girls worked for about 2 hours and packed 2300 pounds of brown rice and 1400 pounds of frozen corn.

In the afternoon students participated in Hunger 101. Each student was given a composite sketch based on real people living in San Francisco. The profiles contained details about income, utilities, rent, and other specific information. Hamlin students then used the data to calculate how much daily money they were able to spend on groceries to feed their families or themselves (if their profile person lived alone). In most cases their characters had less than five dollars a day for food. Students were also able to apply for food stamps using a real five-page government issued form. Additionally, some girls elected to supplement their food supply by eating one meal at a soup kitchen.

For more information about the SF-Marin Food Bank, please visit: https://www.sfmfoodbank.org/