We sat down with the President of FeelGood Skidmore, Tessa Kalinosky ’16, to chat about the club on campus working to end world hunger and poverty.
Her Campus: Tell us about FeelGood.
FeelGood: FeelGood is a youth movement working to end world hunger sustainably through the work of students on college campuses around the country. Chapters raise funds by selling gourmet grilled cheese made from donated ingredients and exchange them for a suggested donation at their local college delis. 100% of the donations are then sent to The Hunger Project, our partner organization. We’re ending world hunger one grilled cheese at a time!
Her Campus: What are your goals for FeelGood Skidmore?
FeelGood: I really want to foster the community we’ve created around this movement. This may sound a bit cheesy, but FeelGood has been such a positive and fun experience for me (like, come on, we get to make puns about cheese); I want to share that! I also really want to kill it at the deli, both in sales and conversations we get to have with other students. We’ve set a pretty lofty goal for ourselves this semester, but I have no doubt we can achieve it with the support of the Skidmore community!
Her Campus: What is unique about FeelGood Skidmore?
FeelGood: A lot of organizations focus on the negative, which shouldn’t be ignored, but FeelGood doesn’t want to do that. It’s not about guilt tripping people into donating or victimizing those in poverty. It’s about informing people of the issue and that we can make lasting, meaningful change by empowering those in poverty and have a blast while we’re doing it. The other important thing about FeelGood is that the partner organization that our fundraising goes to has to meet a very specific set of qualifications. Instead of simple charity The Hunger Project and the other partner organizations work on a basis of partnership in the community. This approach leads to community ownership of the projects. By working with the communities, The Hunger Project is also ensuring that woman are being represented and that corruption is staying out of the local government. Working with The Hunger Project and other organizations, we hope to end world hunger by 2030. We know it’s ambitious, but we want to see it happen.
Her Campus: Why should we care?
FeelGood: It’s really easy to ignore something that we’re so far removed from. If we have the power to make positive change in this world we should. And good news! We do have that power. Whether you’re helping at the deli, making posters, or buying a grilled cheese, you’re helping to make a positive change.
Her Campus: How can students get involved?
FeelGood: The easiest way to get involved is to get a sandwich at our next deli! Stop by, say hi, grab a sandwich and a sticker! Our first meeting is Monday February 2nd in Tisch 302 at 8pm and we would love to see some new faces! Of course we would all love it if you likes us on Facebook (FeelGood at Skidmore) and follow us on Instagram (@FeelGoodSkid) to stay up to date on all of our latest shenanigans!