After a successful inaugural year, the UGA AmeriCorps Community Food Fellows program is now recruiting for the 2024–25 cohort.
Applications are now open for the 2024-25 program year
Applicants will need to apply through both UGA (apply to the 900-hour fellowship program here / or to the 450-hour fellowship program here) and AmeriCorps (here).
Key dates:
June 5 – Applications go live on program website
June 24 – Priority deadline
Weeks of July 8 & 15 – Interviews
July 29 – Official decisions
Sept. 1 – Program year begins
Funded by an AmeriCorps State grant, the Community Food Fellows (CFF) program is a new, multi-year initiative of the Office of Service-Learning. The CFF initiative annually supports a cohort of about 20 members who each commit to provide up to 900 hours of service with on-campus and off-campus partner organizations focused on food insecurity, food production, and food waste. Service runs from the beginning of September to the end of July each year.
Community Food Fellows take part in group and individual service activities, program meetings, and trainings for about 20 hours per week. Over 20 local organizations offer service opportunities such as garden planting and harvesting, food recovery, meal preparation/delivery, and community education/outreach, allowing participants to directly combat food insecurity and food waste in the Athens area.
Fellows learn about and serve with organizations such as Concrete Jungle, Athens Community Council on Aging, Marigold Collective, Campus Kitchen, UGArden, Farm2Neighborhood, the Food Bank of Northeast Georgia, City of Refuge, Our Daily Bread, the School Garden Network, Shell to Shore, and more!
As half-time (900 hours) AmeriCorps members, Community Food Fellows receive modest living allowance ($10,000 across the 11-month term of service), loan forbearance, and a Segal Education Award (up to $3,697.50) that may be used to pay educational costs at eligible post-secondary educational institutions as well as to repay qualified student loans. We also have a limited number of quarter-time (450 hours) positions available for this cycle—the living allowance and education award for these lower hour positions are reduced to $5,000 and $1,956.35, respectively.
In their service placements, Fellows provide leadership within partner organizations and can gain experience in teamwork, communications, volunteer management, non-profit management, and fundraising, as well as a deep understanding of food security and food waste locally and beyond. The group meets regularly to share information and learn more deeply about food systems, to meet with key organizations and community experts, and to receive training (including food safety, CPR, and first aid). Participants can tailor their service schedules to accommodate coursework, and, for UGA undergraduates, the program is also approved as an Experiential Learning activity.
For more information on AmeriCorps Member benefits: https://www.americorps.gov/members-volunteers/your-benefits
See our recruitment flyer for more information.
Read more about the program and its impacts in these UGA news stories:
- https://news.uga.edu/uga-program-addresses-food-insecurity-in-athens/
- https://servicelearning.uga.edu/new-community-program-joins-the-fight-against-hunger/
Questions? Contact Dr. Coleman Allums, coleman.allums@uga.edu.
