Just Add Water: Student Volunteers Partner with Community Sustainability Center to Address Local Food Insecurity

By Robin Kaiküll '26

Recently, CCE and the Bard Office of Sustainability took a van full of student volunteers to The O Zone in Red Hook, a sustainable shopping center and zero waste station, for an opportunity to do something tangible about local food insecurity. 

Students got the chance to learn about sustainable shopping practices and then used bulk food ingredients to assemble mason jars of ready-to-make soup, to be donated to the Bard Food Pantry and the Red Hook Community Center.

The initiative was led by senior Celestine Mingle and junior Nur Refai. “The goal for today was to create an event that aligned with a couple different initiatives on campus, including the Race to Zero Waste, a concentrated time to make really sustainable decisions," said Mingle.

“For this event, the O Zone went above and beyond in supporting us and opening their doors to us and making it a really wonderful, accessible, meaningful experience,” added Refai.

In addition to the food prep, volunteers got to check out what the local store had to offer and met fellow students who shared their values about giving back to the community. “Community involvement has been an essential part of my Bard experience,” said one student.

They pointed out that there is no shortage of volunteering opportunities for Bard students, due to the many offices and centers on campus, such as CCE, who have relationships with the surrounding community. “Even if you're not setting up these events yourself, there’s so many events that a student can sign up for,” they added.

Mingle said they have engaged in several volunteering initiatives over their four years at Bard. “I started working for the Bard Office of Sustainability my first year here. I also got to help with Free Use (a free store stocking gently used items) as well as our recycling and composting programs."

“Food insecurity has been a recurring issue on campus, and I am glad such initiatives are open for students to discuss the topic and engage,” said one student volunteer. “Like many others here, I had not heard of the O Zone before, and am glad to discover that it is just a ten-minute drive from campus.”

After the work was done, students got to take home their own slightly smaller portions of prepared soup with its delicious blend of beans, veggies, and spices. The time and effort it took to do this bit of community service was minimal but the payoffs for everyone involved were great. CCE urges students to keep that in mind as they consider the many volunteer opportunities available across Bard.

Watch the CCE events page or follow our Instagram to see all the ways you can give back this spring!

Post Date: 02-20-2025