CMST &230 Small Group Communication, Green River College
Group: Manufacturing
Group Members: John Bavendam, Onkar Bhachu, Justin Harper, Thomas Leland, Reagan Oxford, Anna Servin, Leah Zuyev.
Since the start of the COVID lockdowns, more and more stories have come out in the news concerning the local communities lack of essentials. One of the services hit hardest were local community food banks. We have decided to define community in the broader sense of the term (i.e.the greater population of our group’s locals). The question that we wanted to answer was how can we contribute to the community and have the greatest impact during these trying times. This is a problem because it affected a wider range of people, people that would not normally be supported by these community services.
During the pandemic and subsequent lockdowns, food banks were hit hard because more people needed them and they received less donations.With more people having to stay home, or losing jobs to the pandemic shut down where only essential workers were allowed to leave the house, more people needed to rely on these services (donations, food banks, unemployment) and it taxed an already stressed system. All aspects of the community needed aid; children, adults and the elderly especially were unable to get the meals they needed from schools, and meal programs making food banks a necessity. The needs of the community exponentially exceeded the capabilities of the food banks because they either shut down from lack of manpower, or more frequently, lack of donations. This was exacerbated by food hoarding and reductions in food supplies based on impacts to the agricultural industry and supply chain. (COVID-19 and the food and agriculture sector: Issues and policy responses.)
Almost one in four adults (23.6 percent) living with children accessed charitable food in 2020 compared with about one in six adults (16.5 percent) in households without children. Adults’ reported household use of charitable food in the past 12 months grew almost 50 percent between December 2019 and December 2020, from 13.2 percent of nonelderly adults to 19.7 percent, or almost one in five adults. That translates to about 13.1 million nonelderly adults who newly reported accessing charitable food in 2020 when compared with 2019. (Waxman, E., Gupta, P., & Gonzalez, D.)
The impact of the unexpected global pandemic caused drastic limitations in capacity with work and social spaces, which led to people needing more community support than ever before in recent history. The effect is that food banks and donation centers, during this time, lacked the resources and employment to support the needs of others. The food banks are also at risk of not rebounding to a level that supports the original part of the community that relied on this service, once society returns to normal.
This is an important matter to the group because nobody should have to want food. Food is a basic human need and we feel that any family or adult grappling with survival shouldn’t have to worry about where the next meal or common essential is coming from. We have chosen this for two reasons, one because it’s the right thing to do, and two because we are fortunate enough to have the opportunity and the means to provide these resources during this trying time.
The solution criteria for the Small Wins group project is that it must be the achievement of a goal or task consistent with the definition of a group from our text. That is, the project includes three or more persons interacting who both influence and are influenced by one another. (Rothwell, 2019, p. 24). The Small Wins project must include a community service component, with our group determining what is both our “community” and who is being “served.” However, the project must have an actionable activity that is conducted by all the members.
Further, the project must be accomplished within the provided timeline of four weeks, along with required documentation and support as described in the assignment.
Lastly, the project needs to be consistent with Green River College’s guidelines for the safety and security of students during the COVID-19 pandemic.
When we identified the problem that the community was in need of, due to the pandemic, we identified a handful of options that would provide us with a “Small Win.” Some of these proposals were assisting with meals on wheels and community service ( volunteering time and making meals for the homeless or helping as a food provider). But with the spacing and social restrictions we realized some of those solutions would not be available to us.
After we reviewed the suggestions we realized the main solution for this problem is donating to the food banks in our local communities. The problem in the news and local articles are all focused on food and essentials being needed. That being said, our sub solution is to look at the community at large and see if there are others needs, as well. Things like clothes, shoes, blankets, books, school supplies, and toiletries might be just as essential as food stuff. While food would be the primary necessity and solution, it’s important to do what’s best for the community.
We decided on our solution in our group meeting on May 13th. According to our project plan that gave us 3 weeks to find items and make donations, with our final day being June 2, when we will have our donation photos uploaded to Canvas.
Once we had identified the solution we were able to implement our plan pretty quickly. Since the solution was going to be donations to our local communities it didn’t need to be coordinated and could proceed at each group member’s pace. Some group members contacted their local food banks and donation centers to find out what goods were specifically needed, While other group members had already identified items that could be donated.
Our problem is an ongoing one, exacerbated by the pandemic and the hardships people are facing. Our donations were a “Small Win.” While they may not stem the tide of hunger or homelessness, by providing the goods that we have donated we didn’t stand idly by when people in our community needed help. We as a group felt this was a success, and while we agreed that there always could be more than what we give, what we did give made a difference to someone, and sometimes that is all you can ask for.
As for group success, while we failed on meeting milestones, the project as a whole was successful. When we realized that the schedule buffer for critical items had been used up, we came together as a team and worked to finalize the project. We felt confident that the donations we made and the assignments we turned in were meaningful and comprehensive.
COVID-19 and the food and agriculture sector: Issues and policy responses. (2020, April 29). Retrieved from https://www.oecd.org/coronavirus/policy-responses/covid-19-and-the-food-and-agriculture-sector-issues-and-policy-responses-a23f764b/Links to an external site.
Slupski, A. (2021, March 18). Why more people are getting help from food banks during the pandemic. Retrieved from https://www.feedingamerica.org/hunger-blog/pandemic-unemployment-food-banksLinks to an external site.
Waxman, E., Gupta, P., & Gonzalez, D. (2021, March 16). Charitable Food Use Increased Nearly 50 Percent from 2019 to 2020. Retrieved from https://www.urban.org/research/publication/charitable-food-use-increased-nearly-50-percent-2019-2020Links to an external site.
Written by Stephanie Preston, P. O. (n.d.). COVID-19: Why hoarding supplies is human nature, according to a behavioral neuroscientist. Retrieved from https://www.weforum.org/agenda/2020/04/evolution-coronavirus-covid19-panic-buying-supplies-food-essentials/Links to an external site.