New student organization combats food insecurity in Athens area

Bobcats Fighting Hunger (BFH) is a student organization at Ohio University dedicated to combating food insecurity in the Athens community. Founded just over a month ago, BFH is a new club students can join if they want to make a difference on a local scale. The club's president Colin Marotta, a political science and government major, talked with us about the organization and what they hope to achieve. 

BFH began with Marotta’s goal to make a difference locally.  

“I was pretty inspired by seeing people on social media helping those in need, and then I looked on Bobcat Connect to do some volunteering that combats local food insecurity,” says Marotta. “I looked into how to start my own club. We got approved, did the training and everything, and since then I’ve been in contact with local food banks.” 

Marotta says food insecurity isn’t always obvious, especially in a small college-oriented community.  

“You can’t always tell if someone is struggling or not or what everyone’s financial situation is,” says Marotta. “There are some great resources through the university, but in addition to that, we’re looking to help the surrounding community that has some issues with this.” 

BFH has already begun to branch out into the community and fight food insecurity, and had their first volunteering event in late February. 

“We spent the morning helping move food between different pantries and the storage shed in preparation for the monthly supplies coming in. We then assisted with unloading the monthly supply truck shipment and then organized the pantry so that it would be ready for the families who were coming in today for food assistance,” says Marotta.  

The club also has exciting plans for future meetings and endeavors. 

“We’re in contact with a couple different places right now… we’ve talked to the Community Food Initiative and the Athens Food Bank,” says Marotta.  “We’ve also discussed doing some food drives and educating people about the issue at weekly meetings.” 

BFH is in its infancy as an organization and looking for students interested in helping the local community. 

“Join on the Bobcat Connect and I’ll email you and get you going,” Marotta says. 

For more information, check out the organization’s Instagram.