Dartmouth students are often praised for their involvement in a wide range of community service activities, but one student in the College recently received special honors for her outstanding contributions of aiding the underprivileged.
Rebecca Heller '05 was presented the Campus Compact Howard R. Swearer Student Humanitarian Award on July 13. She and five other college students traveled to the Education Leadership Colloquium in Orlando, Fla., to receive this distinguished award.
This year, over 80 students were nominated to receive the award, which has been presented annually thanks to a grant from the Sallie Mae Fund. College presidents submit nominations to Campus Compact on behalf of students at their schools who are particularly service-oriented, and recipients are then selected based upon their record of public service and their approach to assisting with problematic issues in their community.
Prior to her matriculation to Dartmouth, Heller worked with AmeriCorps in Berkeley, Calif., and taught English and math skills to single mothers in London who participated in a refugee program in London.
Once she arrived at Dartmouth, Heller quickly devoted her attention to helping the community in whatever ways she could. She assisted in developing a mentoring program at a rural school in Vermont and interned at the Children's Defense Fund, in addition to several other pursuits in community service.
Heller also assisted in developing the Harvest for the Hungry project, which has been one of her most successful projects here. Harvest for the Hungry brought together student and community volunteers with local farmers to harvest leftover fruits and vegetables from farmers' fields. These fruits and vegetables were then utilized in preparing approximately 1,500 frozen meals to be distributed to local residents in need.
"I don't see any reason why I should have access to any more resources than anyone else," Heller said about her motivation for fighting hunger in the community.
One of Heller's goals has been to make sure Harvest for the Hungry continues as a viable program to aid residents of the Upper Valley. She has worked alongside a number of groups such as Students Fighting Hunger, the League of Women Voters and the Upper Valley Agricultural Steering Committee to help the program expand to meet the needs of the community.
"I believe it's important to try to do good things in the world," Heller said with regard to why she has been so involved in community service before and during her time at Dartmouth.
Recent additional plans for Harvest for the Hungry include adding a program to assist families in signing up for federal food programs and the expansion of the program to include education and outreach assistance.
