Yet again, Cabrini College students have been able to prove that although they are small, they are mighty. Out of 4,000 submissions the honors communication convergence class was presented The Silver-Davey Award for their remarkable study and website on food insecurity.
The course is a year-long project in which students plan and produce a converged-media project that utilizes video, audio, photography and text in order to tell a story through a website.
“I was the art director and website developer for ServingFoodSolutions.com, the 2015 senior honors convergence project. I was responsible for all of the aesthetic design that went into our website, which included the logo, the overall look of the entire site and each individual page with content. I worked very closely with the project manager and content strategist to make sure our website appealed to our targeted college student demographic,” Cabrini alumna Lauren Hight said.
The project was created by a total of 14 students and overseen by Cathy Yungmann.
“The most difficult part of convergence is getting students up to speed on very complex social justice topics. It’s not something you can bring in lecturers for. They have to do their own research. This teaches students how to find out information, put together ideas, track down interviews with global authorities and experts and to convince them that what they’re doing matters,” Yungmann said.
One source included food insecurity expert and Cabrini College professor Tom O’Donell.
“Food insecurity hooked me. It got me. It got me when I realized you don’t have to be on SNAP benefits or in extreme poverty to be food insecure. That’s when I discovered how close it is to home,” O’Donell said.
Based on survey data there are currently 49 million people who are food insecure in the United States.
Food insecurity is when a person or group of people is challenged to find enough healthy food to eat in order to support a healthy lifestyle. This means that they don’t have access to or cannot afford quality food.
“The first step of combating food insecurity is to educate yourself on the matter and then to find out how it’s taking place wherever you feel connected. Wherever you feel connected you’ll find food insecurity,” O’Donell said.
According to O’Donell, people can help fight food insecurity by volunteering in food shelters or by donating to can food drives. Others can write to congressional district members about the issue. Even those who don’t have much time can wear a button or put a sticker on their car that says, “I care about hunger and food insecurity in the United States.”
Following more than a year of interviews, videography, graphic design, photography and research the seniors were commended for thier groundbreaking website that deserved nothing less than to be nationally recognized.
“It was such a great feeling knowing that our full year of work was recognized in an international competition and that our message was clearly put forth. I’m so glad I got to work with the team that I did on this project and that we were able to top off everything we learned from Cabrini with this award,” Hight said.
The Silver-Davey Award honors only the best in web, design, video, advertising, mobile and social from small agencies worldwide.
“I was thrilled when I found out about the award. I remember after the project was finished, I said to Cathy this has to be an award winner. It’s a wonderful, wonderful website that deserved to win and get publicity nationwide,” O’Donell said.
