'Lunch Spot' Feeding Program Wins State Recognition

The Lunch Spot, a communitywide initiative to feed Galesburg schoolchildren, will be recognized by the Illinois State Board of Education at its Those Who Excel Awards Banquet on October 22 in Bloomington, Illinois.

Organizers and participants in The Lunch Spot will receive the Award of Excellence for their work.

The Lunch Spot program brought together numerous sponsors and volunteers from the Galesburg community -- including Knox College students, faculty, and staff -- to supply lunches for children during Galesburg School District 205's extended winter break last school year. The school district scheduled a break that was longer than usual as a way to cut costs.

Several members of the Knox College community will attend the Those Who Excel banquet: Peter Schwartzman, associate professor of environmental studies; Tianna Cervantez, director of multicultural student advisement; and Rosie Worthen, who graduated from Knox in June and now is completing a post-baccalaureate fellowship. (Photo above: Worthen helps unload food for The Lunch Spot.)

As part of The Lunch Spot program, Knox students donated about 1,600 "meal swipes" -- on average, more than one from each enrolled student -- from their college meal plans to provide meals for schoolchildren. Every "meal swipe" translated into one sack lunch.

Knox volunteers also helped to put together The Lunch Spot sack lunches, which consisted of nutritious items such as sandwiches, fruit, granola bars, cookies, and a drink.

The Alliance for Peaceful Action, a student group at Knox in which Worthen served as an officer, worked with other members of the Knox community to organize the "meal swipe" donation drive. The effort drew the support of many Knox College students and student organizations, including Sigma Chi fraternity, Sigma Alpha Iota music fraternity, Amnesty International, and Women of Influence.