In recognition of the importance of giving back to our community, the GPH Dean’s Office launched a new initiative, GPH Community Service Day. Our mission is to inspire and empower individuals to contribute to the well-being of society, enhance environmental stewardship, and create a healthier, more equitable world for all. During this year’s GPH Community Service Day (5/29/24), faculty, staff, and students united to lend hands and hearts to organizations that focus on fighting homelessness and hunger, supporting nutritional programs for those with terminal and underlying diseases, and growing sustainably sourced food to nourish neighboring communities. Through these efforts, volunteers contributed to a legacy of compassion and service, helping to uplift individuals and families in the community and offering hope and resources for a brighter future.
Our Interim Dean was part of the team of five GPH volunteers that served 323 lunches at the Bowery Mission, an organization that has been helping New Yorkers in crisis for over 100 years by providing meals, clothes, and housing. Multiple groups of GPH volunteers also provided service to the Campaign Against Hunger, which operates multiple urban farms to provide fresh produce and educational programming to the NYC community. One group packed over 800 bags of food for Veterans throughout the New York area, others worked on the farm, pulling weeds, stabilizing vegetables, and clearing out old produce to make way for new plantings. These efforts contributed to maintaining green spaces in the city and promoting sustainability. By ensuring the garden's productivity, they helped provide continued access to fresh food for the community, demonstrating a commitment to environmental stewardship and food security.
Faculty members lent a special helping hand to Trinity Services and Food for the Homeless, an organization that serves about 200,000 meals annually and has been doing so for over thirty years. Slicing bread, making sandwiches, and pouring water, their assistance contributed to a daily lunch that serves over 100 people in need. GPH’s efforts didn’t stop there. A group was dispatched to God’s Love We Deliver to produce nutritious and balanced meals for those too sick to shop or cook for themselves. Volunteers prepared hundreds of blueberry pancakes and labeled food containers with meal titles and nutrition facts for the recipients.
No matter where our faculty, staff, and students were able to lend a hand, they had a blast supporting and strengthening our community and are excited for the next opportunity to give back!
