By Jaellyn Brady-Dennis

WASHINGTON –In the spirit of truth and service, about 700 participants of the Howard University community served at 29 service sites in celebration of Howard University Homecoming 2019. Students, staff and alumni served the Washington, D.C. area with service initiatives in homelessness, community beautification, health, education, elder care and violence prevention.

Food and Friends, a social services organization, partnered with Howard University students to prepare nutritionally tailored meals for those with serious illnesses.

“We believe food is medicine. Anyone could get sick and everybody can help,” says Katrina Mathis, the volunteer services director at Food and Friends, when she expresses her gratitude for the students’ help. “We could not do what we do if it were not for the help of volunteers. It means a lot to us because volunteers more than double our capacity to do what we do. With food being medicine, we want people to get all the medicine they need so they can get healthy again.”

The non-profit organization was founded in 1988 in the basement of the Westminster Presbyterian Church in Southwest D.C., serving 60 clients one meal a day. Today, Food and Friends provides meals for more than 3,000 clients from Hagerstown, Maryland to Fredericksburg, Virginia. Mathis explains, “We work with our four dietitians and five chefs to plan and prepare these meals. We plan, package and deliver them to our clients free of charge.”

Howard University sophomore Belema Derefaka says, “Knowing that my work here is going to a good cause is the best part about service. I love the idea that they are feeding people, especially those with dietary restrictions due to a serious illness.”

Food and Friends encourages more Howard students to come and fulfill their mission of delivering health and hope, one meal at a time, and building a community where everyone who is seriously ill has the nourishment they need to manage their illness.