PROJECT ACHIEVE IN THE COMMUNITY

This past year, over 75 Project Achieve students contributed more than 850 hours to the Omaha community. These student leaders identified issues in the community, developed plans to address them, and stepped up to make sure these plans were followed by action. This has included everything from establishing and maintaining community gardens, distributing meals to area children and their families, providing a Thanksgiving meal for those who are homeless in Omaha, helping to build affordable homes for Omaha families, and taking the initial steps in a long-term project to develop a system for routinely getting fresh produce to area non-profits serving those dealing with food insecurity.

To accomplish this, Project Achieve students partnered with like-minded members of the community, among them long-term partners Omaha Masonic Lodge Rescue #4, Habitat for Humanity Omaha, Benson Plant Rescue/ Community Produce Rescue, St. Peter’s Church Omaha, and newer partners No More Empty Pots, the Omaha Land Bank, and Whispering Roots, which is providing material support for the new urban garden to be established this spring in North Omaha. Students applied for and were accepted to participate in the upcoming Omaha Gives fundraising effort to support this garden as well.

It is worth noting that students’ efforts to serve the community have been entirely voluntary, motivated only by the generosity of spirit of an amazing cadre of young men and women committed to making the world a better place for everyone.

Students also undertook the exciting process of forming a new non-profit organization that will work in partnership with the UNO student organization formed and led by Project Achieve students. Students Against Hunger will broaden and further advance this club’s efforts to address food scarcity and distribution.

It clearly has been a very exciting year for Project Achieve’s engagement with the community, and none of it could have happened without the hard work and vision of Project Achieve students and student leaders.