|
VISTA Visit To Wake Forest Community Table
On January 17th, Wake Forest Community Table had the pleasure of hosting all of the Wake County AmeriCorps VISTAs (Volunteers In Service to America) for their monthly meeting. The entire cohort of VISTAs focuses on food security throughout Wake County. Each VISTA works to come up with innovative solutions, educate, and combat food insecurity in various communities within the county. During this meeting we had the opportunity to share who we are at Wake Forest Community Table.
During this meeting we led discussions about food security in our community compared to the remainder of Wake Forest. We discussed the history of our community and worked to explain why our community in particular is left in a state of food insecurity. This sparked deep discussion among the VISTAs who were able to use the story of the Northeast end of Wake Forest to inspire the work at their sites and their projects. During this time we were able to demonstrate food security on the ground level and were able to show who we are at WFCT.
Following our sit down discussion the VISTAs then took what they had learned and were able to see the community for themselves. Michelle Michaels brought her expertise and conducted a walking tour to give a deeper understanding of the history in the community. To end the meeting, the VISTAs had the opportunity to see Wake Forest Community Table in action and help with the meal distribution. We served 133 meals in the evening that the VISTAs helped serve and they were able to connect and speak with the members of our community. It was a great experience for us to connect the history and systems to what WFCT does to combat these issues.
It was a great privilege to host a group of service minded individuals who work to end food insecurity. This event was a moment for the VISTAs to not only connect with our community, but for us to show the true heart of Wake Forest Community Table. Showing individuals why we are needed and discussing the implications of the systems that have historically necessitated services like ours is extremely important to us. We were also able to learn from these inspiring young VISTAs in new ways to engage in the food security field and we are incredibly grateful for the opportunity to host their January meeting!
Quotes From the VISTAs:
“I found it eye-opening to learn about the history of Wake Forest, particularly the Black community, and to see how that sense of community still exists today.”
“Being able to help with Wake Forest Community Table was a great experience! Especially attending the downtown wake forest walking tour. Learning about the history that is still being preserve there was so nice and valuable to see.”
View the photos of our event HERE
| 
