Students at UA Raise Funds for Secret Meals Program

TUSCALOOSA, Ala. – Advertising and public relations students in a service-learning class at The University of Alabama have raised some $5,585 for Secret Meals For Hungry Children, an Alabama Credit Union program that benefits needy area children.

The students, taught by Susan Daria, instructor in the College of Communication and Information Sciences, assisted Secret Meals with the design and implementation of awareness materials and events. All proceeds and donations were given to the program, created by ACU in 2008.

The program discreetly provides impoverished school children with packets of food for the weekend. Secret Meals can provide food for one child for an entire school year for $120. Teachers identify children and the packs are secretly slipped in the child’s backpack while they are out of the classroom. The packs include nonperishable items that provide children with adequate nutrition.

From Nov. 1-8 with the help of local businesses including Piggly Wiggly, Innisfree Irish Pub and the Bear Trap,  the students gathered funds to supply meals for 46 children for an entire year.

“As a two-time University of Alabama graduate myself, I was so proud of the caliber of students that we have and the caliber of work they can turn out,” said Steve Swofford, ACU president. “Not only did they provide us with funds to feed 46 children, but they provided us with ideas we can use for the future.”

The students set up a donation drive at four Piggly Wiggly locations around Tuscaloosa. Participating stores included the Northport, Alberta, West End and Greensboro Avenue locations. Customers could donate $1 at the register to help a child in need. They then had the option to sign a backpack to hang in the store window and received a sticker signifying they helped feed a hungry child. The Piggly Wiggly drive raised approximately $4,169. Fundraising events also included a trivia night at the Bear Trap, an awareness campaign at Innisfree and a textathon to raise money.

Daria developed the service-learning component of the class, APR 419, while participating in the UA Center for Ethics & Social Responsibility’s Faculty Fellows Service-Learning Program, a one-year fellowship that trains faculty to design new courses or modify existing courses to include service learning.