CMST &230 Small Group Communication, Green River College
Group: Marketing
Group Members: Benjamin Meredith, Nicholas Seelbach, Faye Martinez, Aolin Zhang, Aaron Armstrong, Shahad Shareef
The problem in our community we are addressing is the lack of food security affecting many youths in Kent and Auburn. This problem has been exacerbated by the currently ongoing Covid-19 pandemic which has made it increasingly difficult for low-income families to adequately feed their children. Does lack of food security severely affect the development of youths in our community? Food insecurity has negative effects on well-being which can lead to poor health, vitamin and mineral deficiency, and developmental and behavior problems such as anxiety, depression, and attention deficit disorders. (Cook, Frank, 2008)
Food Security causes an added stress to any family. When a family has food security issues then it is very likely they are struggling to maintain basic needs for their families such as maintaining a house, a means of transportation, maintaining positive cash flow and cleanliness. These issues likely lead to potential custody transfers from the parents to a relative and if none are found then the child will go to the state, another added stress. Solving the issue of “where will I get my next meal for me and my family?” is one less issue that will help a family attempt to tackle the next obstacle like debt, car and/or house payments.
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.
With our problem of food insecurity in our community, we looked into the possible solutions that would fit into the community service guidelines for our small win. Our first suggestion was a food drive to find those who could donate food which would be distributed. Then it was suggested we could attend a backpacking service which is what we ultimately decided on for our problem of food insecurity in our community.
Our group decided to implement the Backpack Buddies Packing Party, an organization operated by the Rotary Club of Kent, as our small win solution. We decided to volunteer for this event that took place on March 2nd, 2022, since our group agreed to wanting to help those who are experiencing food insecurities in our community. This event would take place once a month during the school year and many volunteers would gather to help pack bags of food that would then get distributed to the neediest elementary schools in the Kent School District. According to the Rotary Club of Kent, many students tend to lack energy and struggle to concentrate when they are hungry. This gesture provides food to more than 200 youngsters in order to ensure that they have enough sustenance to go through their difficult days. As stated in the Rotary Club of Kent website, “The Backpack Buddy Program would not be possible without the dedication of volunteers to make the world a better place.” Our group volunteered for this program in order to assist in ensuring that children receive their meals and reminded ourselves that such a small act may not solve the main problem but it’s a small step to take.
While creating our small wine projects, we created some of the following deadlines. Packing food for children with food insecurity on 3/1/22. Turn in group project two on 3/1/22. Turn in group project two reports on 3/16/22. Complete group project two multimedia celebrations on 3/15/22. In order to conduct this small win, we had to sign up online and attend an hour long session of food packing. There was an assembly line that we smoothly implemented ourselves into, and at the end we packed enough food for students from 7 different elementary schools.
Small wins are an essential part of every team, and focusing on small wins can improve teamwork efficiency. Our team took four weeks from idea to implementation, chose the physical and psychological problems caused by the food shortage in the community under the influence of covid 19 as the basis, and developed a solution to realize our small win. We also learned a lot through this practice. Although a small victory may not seem important in its own right, a small victory in this event gave us more motivation and confidence to complete the next cooperation.
Cook, J. T., & Frank, D. A. (2008). Food security, poverty, and human development in the United States. Annals of the New York Academy of Sciences, 1136, 193–209. https://doi.org/10.1196/annals.1425.001
Rotary Club of Kent. (n.d.). Backpack Buddies. Kent Rotary. Retrieved March 14, 2022, from https://www.kentrotary.com/backpack-buddies.php
Rothwell, J. D. (2022). In mixed company: Communicating in small groups and teams. Oxford University Press.
Schachter, A., Song, L., Neal, S., Wong, E., Kimball, E., Laurent, A., Johnson, K., & Pajimula, F. (2020). (rep.). Increases in Food Needs in King County, WA Spring-Summer 2020. King County Public Health. Retrieved March 14, 2022, from https://kingcounty.gov/depts/health/covid-19/data/impacts/~/media/depts/health/communicable-diseases/documents/C19/food-insecurity-brief-report-august-2020.ashx.