Thank You's from FG UIUC

Our group (minus a few) celebrated our successful first semester tonight! We just want to thank

- other FG chapters for all the inspiration and support;
- Kristin who seemed to have the answer to everything;
- Courier Cafe/Silvercreek for our regular supply of various hearty bread;
- Za's and Strawberry Fields for their in-kind donations;
- Clybourne's for being open to us
- and anyone who helped out to get our deli up and running initially (epecially Ryan S., Carleen, Johan, Nurul and Cindy)

Looking forward to more feelingood next semester! :)

Not Feeling So Good

These past two days I’ve found myself incredibly distracted and emotionally preoccupied by the sadness and vast loss of innocence that resulted from Monday’s VT Massacre. As college students, I’m sure this tragedy hits a little to close to home and I just want to express that my thoughts and prayers are with you all.

My prayers go out to the families of the victims who will need all the love and support this universe holds in order to slowly heal.

Keep spreading the love and hope of a more complete humanity; the world needs it.

Taking Back a Childhood Favorite

There was a delicious article in the NY Times today about grilled cheese sandwiches. I thought some of you students might be interested; especially those of you who love exploring recipes. Read the article here

Hope you are all having a wonderful day!

2 Grilled Cheese/soda combos = 1 $10 Bed-net for 2 people

Hey UVM Kiddees and Kiddos!

A couple more things!

First, if you haven't done so, check out the article written about FeelGood in "The View" It's a really nice piece and hopefully lots will read it and get the FeelGood message!
http://www.uvm.edu/~uvmpr/theview/article.php?id=2296

Motivation this week...what do you know about Malaria?

Well, according to Milleniumpromise.org a child dies from Malaria every 30 seconds. 1-3 million people (mostly children) die each year from Malaria.

"Malaria and poverty are intimately connected. Malaria is most intractable for the poorest countries in the world. It affects the health and economic growth of nations and individuals alike and is costing Africa about $12 billion a year in economic output.

The simple presence of malaria in a community or country also hampers individual and national prosperity due to its influence on social and economic decisions. The risk of contracting malaria in endemic areas can deter investment and affect individual and household decision making in many ways that have a negative impact on economic
productivity and growth.

Some examples of negative impact include:

• Preference by individual farmers/households to plant subsistence crops rather than more labor-intensive cash crops because of malaria's impact on labor during harvest season.
• Undeveloped markets due to traders' unwillingness to travel to and invest in malaria endemic areas.
• Undeveloped tourist industry due to reluctance of travelers to visit malaria-endemic areas."

THP Malawi launched a HUGE anti-malaria bed-net program in January 2004. In the October 2006 update to the global board, THP Malawi reported "THP-Malawi provides loans to buy bed nets, which are then sold for a small profit (this profit is invested back into getting more bed-nets). So far, several hundred bed-nets have been sold to the partners and this has dramatically reduced the incidences of malaria in several villages."

It is the simplest thing such as a bed-net that saves 2 lives, yet there are people out there who don’t have access to them This is not ok! If you want to read more about Malawi's malaria initiative, here is the link.

http://thp.org/malawi/2004/update0104/index.htm

Or if you want to learn more about Malaria and poverty click here:
http://www.millenniumpromise.org/site/PageServer?pagename=malaria_main

So who knew the cost of a couple grilled cheeses could buy a bed-net and save lives...literally!

See you tonight everyone!! 7:00 pm- be there or be square.

-Leah

Eat Well, FeelGood

By Thomas Weaver
Article published March 22, 2007 in UVM's The View


The corridor through the ground floor of Billings has long led to hotbeds of student creative energy. From the Cynic offices, past WRUV’s studio where a bass beat inevitably thumps behind the sticker-plastered door, and on to the busy network of Student Government Association offices. Tuesday and Friday afternoons, that scene expands to include an unusual blend of the culinary arts and philanthropy when the student volunteers of the Feel Good organization plug in their trusty Foremans to grill cheese sandwiches.

It would be tough to find a more potent combination of thrift and social conscience, gustatory pleasure and sound nutrition than the four-dollar grilled cheese served up by the student volunteers of UVM’s Feel Good. Working with bread from Klinger’s Bakery and 25 pounds of Shelburne Farms' cheddar donated every week, the group gives all of its profit — $10,000 last semester alone — to The Hunger Project and Millennium Promise.

Apologies to the big guys at Sodexho and the little guys out in the trucks on University Place, but Feel Good is one of the best campus lunch deals going. This isn’t your white bread and Velveeta grilled cheese, but a sandwich with gourmet aspirations from the top-notch bread and cheese to a bevy of embellishments — your choice of garlic, salsa, onions, tomatoes, mushrooms, peppers and spinach. May we suggest the “Cheesus Loves Me”?

Feel Good is a national effort with roots at the University of Texas, where it was started by a circle of cross-country runners and their friends. In 2005, they began spreading the “ending world hunger one grilled cheese at a time” concept to other universities, and there are now 11 chapters nationwide — Columbia to Illinois to Colorado to UC-Santa Barbara. When UVM Feel Good VP Leah Grossman is asked why this particular method for fighting hunger, her eyes widen a little at the slow-pitch softball question. “Everyone loves grilled cheese,” she says. “It’s simple, delicious, students love it.”

In its philanthropy and educational efforts, Feel Good emphasizes a self-reliant, grassroots model of development — with high priority placed on the empowerment of women. That philosophy is explained at the organization's website: “We believe that conventional, top-down planning is not the answer; it is part of the problem. Top-down, service-delivery approaches are not only too inefficient and inflexible to make a dent in world hunger, they actually undermine the most important resource — the creativity and self-reliance of hungry people themselves.”

Illustrating the concept, UVM student Grossman suggests a variation on the familiar “Give a man a fish or teach a man to fish” wisdom. “These people know how to fish, but the lake is dry or it is surrounded with barbed wire,” she says. “One of the most important things we can do is help remove obstacles that keep people from being able to help themselves.”

With an old-school marketing approach heavily invested in sidewalk chalk, UVM Feel Good has built itself into the leading fundraising chapter in the organization. The Vermont students typically sell in the neighborhood of 100 sandwiches each day during the two afternoons a week they’re open for business in the Billings basement, Feel Good President Taryn Ross says. They also set up at special events, such as SpringFest or February’s Transgender Identity Conference on campus.

Next fall, Feel Good members will move into the Davis Center, where they’ll set up their sandwich-making assembly line in 81 square-feet of deli/kiosk space. It will be a tight squeeze, but the students are used to doing great works with humble things. Archimedes can keep his lever; give these UVM students a Foreman and they can move the world.

To read the article online go to: http://www.uvm.edu/~uvmpr/theview/article.php?id=2296

UVM Officer Candidates for 2007-2008

LEAH GROSSMAN- PRESIDENT
Hi all. Well, this is my fourth semester in Feelgood and my second as VP. I am thrilled to be leading a group of the MOST AMAZING PEOPLE into another year of tremendous growth. I would like to see Feelgood take on a more professional quality as well as become more efficient in communicating our message of partnership. I believe that being a part of this organization has the power to change you both as a typical college student and as a member of humanity. I have enjoyed seeing members take on ownership of our operation and invest so much of themselves. My favorite thing about being a leader for feelgood is watching a member who comes in kind of clueless, evolve into this fierce individual who, while handing out a Wanu, is grillin up the sickest grilled cheese ever, helping the girl next to her with portion control, and simultaneously is explaining what an epicenter is to the interested student on the other side of the counter. Now THAT'S a feelgooder!

LIZ BATSFORD- VICE PRESIDENT
I've been involved with Feelgood since last semester. It's become a pretty big part of what I do at UVM and I want to get further involved. I get really excited about The Hunger Project and all of the work it does. As Vice President I would like to put an extra effort into making sure that we continue to attract new members and to make them feel welcome. I really want to help to bring Feelgood to the next level.
My favorite sandwich is the U.P.S. with mushrooms and onions on sourdough.

MELISSA STIMSON- VICE PRESIDENT
My name is Melissa Stimson. I am a sophomore and I have been involved with FeelGood for the 2006-2007 school year. I would love to fill the position of vice president because I feel that it is one of many ways for me to express my love and commitment for this organization. I feel that my experience, passion, dedication, responsibility and friendliness are qualities that will help us all work towards our goals of raising awareness of The Hunger Project and creating partnerships which work towards ending world hunger. After all if we work hard enough we can accomplish anything!

MARGARET PETRARCA-TREASURER
My name is Margaret Petrarca and I am running for the position of treasurer. I joined FeelGood last semester and attended the Gala in NYC for the Africa Prize. It was a very enlightening experience and ever since I have been trying to find ways
to give my time and passion to FeelGood. I have been on the bread commity and recently switched to the produce commity and i would like to continue to give by becoming treasurer. I feel that FeelGood has grown so much and i would like
to see it continue to gain success and to be a part of that success.
If I were to be a FeelGood grilled cheese I would be the Shelburne Shandwich without mushrooms, with pesto and roasted garlic parm bread!

LAURA CUI- FUNDRAISING CHAIR (FALL 2007)
"It all started at Billings Bedlam 2006 when I ate my first FeelGood sandwich. That combination of pesto, pasta sauce and cheese tickled my senses so! FeelGood sandwiches are totally delicious. But fo realz. This year, I have become much
more involved with FeelGood, and I would love to help out even more. I am running for Fundraising Chair for Fall 2007. I have worked with fundraising in the past with other groups and I can use the experience I gained to help FeelGood. Although we already donate a large amount to THP, I think we can do even better. In raising more money and reaching more people, we will be able to form stronger bonds with our
THP partners. Peace, equality, and gourmet grilled cheese for all!"

ALYSSA CATALANO- FUNDRAISING CHAIR (SPRING 2008)
"Hey I'm Alyssa and I got involved with UVM FeelGood this fall, but discovered the grilled cheese last spring. I loved getting a King Klinger, it would always
make my Friday afternoon. Sophomore year I decided to get involved and take an
active part with FeelGood, and have been hooked. I am running for the Fund raising chair with Laura. I am going to New Zealand in the Fall and Laura is going abroad in the Spring so we decided to team up and raise some money for us! I have been in contact with some of the Church Street Marketplace vendors and am hoping that we will be able to develop a relationship with several of the stores so that we can have a fun different raffle every month.
If you want the piece with our favorite sandwich, mine is a self-created one. I take 2pieces of Maple Oat Walnut bread (or Pumpernickel when we have it!), add cheese, caramelized onions, salsa, and pesto."

JAMIE SEIFFER- ADVERTISING CHAIR

This is Jamie's second year involved in feelgood. He currently heads advertising and is super good at it! He wants every single person on campus to know what feelgood is, and is extremely passionate and excited about making that happen.

UIUC FeelGood Finds a Local Bread Sponsor!!!

Hey Kristin!

If you would like to recognize UIUC sponsors in FGW website, Courier Cafe/Silvercreek Restaurant is sponsoring our bread regularly. Pretty sweet! And they are a local company:)

:) Kristine, UIUC FeelGood President

Bottoms-up!

So as members of FeelGood, we constantly throw around the
phrase "WE ARE ENDING HUNGER!" What a broad statement to make don't
you think? Chronic hunger consists of many root causes, how can we
possibly get to the foundation of all of them? Well, we start at the
bottom! The same goes for when people ask you what The Hunger Project
does exactly. Start at the beginning. The process of creating
sustainability begins at the cognitive level of each and every
individual. People must believe in their abilities to take action on
their own behalf. This is where The Hunger Project initiates the
journey; in the human mind and spirit. Below is THP's explanation of
their bottom-up approach.


Mobilizing for Self-reliance
Top-down approaches treat people as passive beneficiaries, dependent
on government handouts. After decades, people internalize this belief.
As promises of assistance fail to materialize, people are left in deep
resignation.

The first step in The Hunger Project's strategies worldwide is to
awaken people to a new possibility: the possibility of not waiting to
be rescued, but taking action now to meet basic needs. This is
achieved through the Vision, Commitment and Action Workshop (VCAW).

Part of the "homework" of the VCAW is to launch a three-month project
based entirely on local resources. In achieving this first success,
people?s initial inspiration develops into self-confidence.

There are other vital steps in mobilization. We train local volunteer
leaders known as "animators" who become the spark plugs for local
action. As people take more substantial action, we provide training in
literacy and local laws. We organize people into self-help groups to
gain a stronger voice. Success builds on success.

The results of mobilization include the hundreds of village-level
projects launched through our epicenter strategy in Africa, as
residents of outlying villages build local classrooms, local workshops
for income-generating activities, and local food storage for food
security.

In Mexico, villages have taken on replanting the forests. In Bolivia,
villages build their own irrigation systems. In Bangladesh, clusters
of villages launch mass-action campaigns, some of which have ensured
that the villages are 100 percent free from dowry-based marriages, and
100 percent literate, and that 100 percent of the households have
latrines. In fact, a popular T-shirt in Hunger Project villages in
Bangladesh reads: "A person whose spirit is unleashed will never go
hungry."

With few exceptions, conventional top-down plans completely ignore the
power of mobilizing people for self-reliant action."
-THP.org

Hope you've learned a little bit more and feel "animated" to continue on!
See you tomorrow guys,
-Leah