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GGM: How Can We Help?
HOW CAN WE HELP?
Greatest Good McDonogh is making an impact. As experiential learning is integrated into curriculum, clubs, leadership groups, sports teams, and the arts, students are gaining an understanding of the best practices in philanthropy, community engagement, and social innovation. McDonogh is energized, and the scope of the school’s efforts is vast. “Once you get involved, you can’t stop. This is something that I plan on continuing for the rest of my life,” says Isabella Sodhi ’25, a member of the Special Olympics Club.
At the end-of-year Greatest Good McDonogh Showcase, Program Director Bridget Collins ’90 told the audience, “The amount of time, talent, and treasure our community has shared with the greater Baltimore community this year is so inspiring.”
Lynne Kahn, Executive Director of the Baltimore Hunger Project, was among the non-profits represented at the event. Her organization, a beneficiary of the work of the McDonogh community, is devoted to eliminating the growing problem of weekend childhood hunger by feeding bodies and minds.
Throughout the year, in conversations with Kahn, McDonogh students learned that many children in Baltimore are food-insecure on the weekends. In turn, they asked, “How can we help?”
Middle Schoolers Raise Funds Through Empty Bowls Event
In February, the Middle School Farm to Fork and 3D Design classes joined forces and raised more than $2,000 for the Baltimore Hunger Project by hosting an Empty Bowls Luncheon at Roots Farm. After learning about Empty Bowls, an international movement to remind people about the plight of world hunger, they heard from Kahn, who explained that her organization provides food packages for students struggling with hunger on the weekend. She emphasized the connection between proper nutrition and academic success.
Once they understood the “why,” the seventh and eighth graders began working on the “how.” The 3D Design students learned to make, paint, and fire ceramic bowls and those in the Farm to Fork class made and froze tomato soup, focaccia, and cornbread for the event. On a chilly Saturday afternoon, more than 100 guests gathered in the cozy barn at Roots Farm for the Empty Bowls fundraiser to benefit the Baltimore Hunger Project.
When the last ladles of soup had been served and guests had selected their favorite bowl to take home, the students presented an oversized check to the Baltimore Hunger Project. Maxine Koymen ’28, who was responsible for baking bread, reflected on the benefit of helping others while doing something enjoyable. She said, “One community coming together to help another while doing something you enjoy is the best kind of helping because you both benefit.”
Upper School Class Proposes Solutions
The middle schoolers weren’t the only ones working to support the Baltimore Hunger Project. After gaining an understanding of what drives food insecurity, upper schoolers in Cynthia Cox’s English elective Nonfiction Studies in Food Culture and Systems met with Kahn, ready to apply their knowledge to a local organization. She explained the challenges of running the Baltimore Hunger Project in her spare time and shared the operational issues her nonprofit faces: recruiting volunteers, organizing the warehouse, spreading the word to families in need, and of course, fundraising.
Working in groups, students brainstormed and envisioned workable solutions. In May, they presented their ideas to a panel including Kahn and David Rothschild ’82 who catalyzed the launch of Greatest Good McDonogh with an endowed commitment and partnership support. While one group of students shared their idea for an innovative warehouse organization system for the intake and distribution of food, another proposed spreading the word to those in need in a dignified and non-threatening way by posting flyers, in multiple languages, at schools in low-income areas. Another solution, destined to launch in the fall, was to establish a Baltimore Hunger Project Club at McDonogh to generate awareness, volunteers, and funds, with the goal of establishing chapters at other area independent schools. Kahn told the students, “I’m so impressed that you heard me. You listened to what I needed.”
Kahn’s enthusiasm and dedication to the Baltimore Hunger Project resonated with Cox’s students. Kolby Brown ’24 told the audience at the Greatest Good McDonogh Showcase, “My takeaway from the class, and this project in particular, is that anyone can make a difference. In other words, if there is something that currently seems too big for you to tackle, take that jump because you never know how many lives you might be able to change.”
Led by David Rothschild ’82, the Rothschild Foundations—which are committed to advancing educational initiatives that inspire philanthropic and social engagement—catalyzed the launch of Greatest Good McDonogh with an endowed commitment and partnership support.
—Meredith Bower
BIG KIDS INSPIRE LITTLE MINDS
Kindergartners proved that you are never too little to have big ideas when they collaborated with upper schoolers on solutions to environmental issues impacting McDonogh. As part of their Sharing the Planet unit, the lower schoolers invited Upper School Environmental Science students to explain some of the environmental challenges on campus. From that discussion, they learned about litter, food waste, cutting down trees, and air pollution. The young students asked thoughtful questions, and once they had an understanding of the problems, they began working on solutions.
Several weeks later, the earnest young inventors presented their ideas to the juniors and seniors Vida Stephens and Harper Demers suggested an invention that picks up trash in the water through a tube. They explained, “The water is pushed out of the back and the trash stays in the big part.” Other students made posters encouraging recycling and created petitions that their classmates signed.
The real-world application not only involved deep critical thinking, research, and creative problem-solving on the part of the kindergartners, but it also taught them to empathize and advocate.
