Mission To reduce poverty through student action.

About Nourish International

Nourish International was founded in 2002 at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill.  Nourish International is a network of student organizations at college campuses that work to reduce poverty worldwide.

NI’s Philosophy

NI believes that many communities constrained by the cycle of poverty are highly entrepreneurial and are working hard to improve their conditions.  College students are passionate about poverty feel compelled to be part of the solution.  NI harnesses the power of socially driven students to deliver funding, resources and talent to help accelerate that process, resulting in a mutually beneficial experience for both the students and the community. 

College Chapter Model

The core of NI is its chapters.  Chapters are defined by three major components:

• Chapters are student driven and student-led
  
• Chapters invest earnings in sustainable development projects that help individuals get out of poverty
  
• Chapters earn money through business ideas which we call Ventures. 
  Examples of Ventures include lunch sales, dances and gaming tournaments.

Examples of Past Sustainable Development Projects

• La Paz, Bolivia 2004.  A partnership with Save the Children where NI members assisted in the design and building of an irrigation system for 120 community members living in a land locked village 16,000 feet above sea level.
  
• Buenos Aires, Argentina 2006. A partnership with Fundacion Los Robles to construct educational  vegetable plots, or ‘huertas’, for school children.  Based on past results, 30% of the children, which amount to over 200 students, will create their own food gardens within 2 years.
  
• Bombay, India 2006. A partnership with Bridgetrust in which NI funded an organic fruit/vegetable farm for three tribal villages of 1500 people in city outskirts

Entrepreneurial Fundraising Ventures

• Hunger Lunch (HL) – Lunch menu of beans, rice, and cornbread sold for $3 on campus.  NI hosted 40 lunches in 2005-2006 and has raised over $40,000 since 2002.
• Hold ‘Em For Hunger – 300 player poker tournament to raise money and awareness among the population of “gamers” in University communities.  NI has hosted 2 tournaments and raised over $10,000 since 2004.
• Other student initiated ventures include Cooking Classes Grilled Cheese Sales,, Yoga Classes, Swing Dances, and Salsa Dances.

History

NI evolved from a student organization called Hunger Lunch, which was started by Sindhura Citineni in 2002.  Sindhura created Hunger Lunch to generate funding for sustainable food projects overseas.  The project grew, and after realizing the innate affinity between college students and her idea, she entered a team of students into a business plan competition to take a more comprehensive approach to world poverty.  The new model meant incorporating more students by expanding to new universities and bridging a national movement of college students to collaborate with developing communities.  She took second place, and thus was born Nourish International. 

Existing Chapters

• UNC-Chapel Hill
• Duke University
• North Carolina State University
• Ohio State University