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CSF Report 2010-2011
LOOKING FORWARD: SUMMER 2011
MORE PICS INTERNSHIPS! NEW ORGANIZATIONS!
75
opportunities with 58 organizations.
Student applications are now being accepted. LOOKING BACK…SUMMER 201065 students were placed at 48 organizations across the US and in Bermuda. A number of the organizations published reports in their newsletters at the conclusion of their internships. Alison Daminger ’12 was a PICS intern with Mercer Street Friends Food Bank, a long time PICS organization initially identified by classmate, Jeff Sprowles. Mercer Street Friends asked her to share some thoughts about her experience in their summer newsletter, Table Talk:
All in all, it has been a wonderful summer, and I have a feeling that I won’t be able to stay away from the Food Bank too long, even after my time as an intern is over! Allison was not the only published intern this summer! Andy Lowy was a PICS intern this summer with the County Executive's Office of Community Partnerships of Montgomery County, Maryland, a first time participant organization brought to the PICS program by the Class of 1970. Andy, is a Junior at Woodrow Wilson School of Public and International Affairs. He wrote in the OCP newsletter about his "food” experience as well: Imagine: Montgomery County as the Nation’s Model Sustainable Community Food System
On March 25, 2010, the Montgomery County Green Economy Task Force (GETF) submitted to County Executive Ike Leggett its recommendations for "growing a sustainable economy in the 21st century…[achieving] green job growth…increased revenue and innovation, while enjoying a decrease in greenhouse gas emissions and natural resource consumption.” Among the recommendations was the creation of a "small farm incubator” extending the County’s award-winning business incubator model to support organic farming in the Agricultural and Open Space Reserve and to encourage local consumption. Under such a program, farmers initially receive subsidized rates on land and equipment, as well as guidance and support from mature "mentor” farms, until they have grown their businesses to the point where they can operate profitably outside the incubator. On May 27, 2010, the Montgomery County Planning Board selected the Darby Hub, a 127-acre plot of land in the Woodstock Special Park in the Reserve as the location for the farm incubator. During my ten-week Princeton Internships in Civic Service internship, I am building upon the progress made by Parks & Planning as I propose a Sustainable Community Food Initiative, a comprehensive County initiative to promote local sustainable agriculture, food processing, and distribution, and educate the public about the value of Buying Montgomery and Eating Healthy. In addition to the farm incubator, this initiative could include a Food Innovation Center with a commercial kitchen incubator and a healthy food-processing center that turns would-be food waste from local farms into nutritious meals. The Initiative could also provide business support to existing small farms through a Sustainable Farm Network and a workforce development program that brings underemployed immigrant workers from day labor centers to farms and trains them in commercial organic agriculture. It could also include a Healthy Food Hub that creates new markets for local produce and facilitates the distribution of food, especially to low-income residents who often lack access to affordable healthy food. Lastly, the initiative proposes ways to educate the public about food and encourage healthy eating habits through cooking classes, school and community gardens, and a Montgomery County "farm to school” meal program. The PICS program and the intern at Epiphany School in Boston were featured in the June 2010 Epiphany newsletter, Always Learning: Princeton PICS Epiphany
Ogechi is one of 600+ Princeton
students who have brought their creativity, skills and energy to more than 150
non-profit organizations. The internships encompass a wide range of endeavors
in national and international organizations working in group advocacy, legal
services, public policy, the environment, health and social services, community
development, education and the arts.
In Their Own Words:
Ogechi
in Her Own Words
I grew up in Fayetteville, GA, just outside of Atlanta. As a rising sophomore
at Princeton University, I have been involved in several activities on and
off-campus, ranging fromstartinga book club for residents of
aTrentonrescue mission toperforming with anon-campus
dance company. At present, I am interested in the social sciences, and
education in some form or another has been one of my long-standing
interests.
Sarah Pease-Kerr ’11
My main assignment was to complete a report for Dr. John Long, VP of Research and Collections at the Museum. Dr. Long wanted me to look at research output (grants and scholarly publications) of other major American natural history museums to compare and benchmark the work being done by researchers at NHMLAC. I had to gather annual reports, grant reports, and data on publications and put together a comprehensive report with graphs, charts, and analysis showing what I found. In addition to this independent project, Dr. Long set me up with curators, curatorial assistant, and collections managers in the various departments at the Museum (Anthropology, Mammalogy, Crustacea, Entomology, Conservation, Ornithology, etc.) to assist on smaller projects such as collections rehousing, artifact photography, digitalization of collections, artifact conservation, exhibit research, and some field work. I was satisfied with my projects. It was challenging, new, and varied. I had a good balance between independent work and time with museum researchers.  Sarah Pease-Kerr helping Conservation staff at the Natural History Museum of Los Angeles County to restore a 1908 Pierce Great Arrow; part of the Museum’s history collection. Manuel Perez ‘11
My main task at Access Community Health Network in Chicago was to create a program manual for 340B Drug Discount Program. Health care entities that participate in this government program have the opportunity to buy prescription drugs at a low cost and are then able to sell them and pass on the savings to their patients. ACCESS wanted to create a pharmacy service line by participating in the 340B program to treat the whole patient – not only providing primary care. It was my job to figure out how the program works and help implement it across 60 clinics; my training manual will be used to train the staff at all the clinics. On a Wednesday afternoon, an older gentleman walked into the clinic hoping to see his doctor. He didn’t have an appointment and the receptionist told him that the health center was not taking walk-ins because we were implementing a new electronic health records system; he would need to go to the health center a couple blocks away to get seen. He responded by telling the young lady to speak with the doctor and he sat down in the waiting area. The confidence with which he spoke intrigued me because his relationship with the doctor seemed more personal than that of the receptionist; it was almost like he knew the doctor more than the people she worked with on a daily basis. When I took his information down in the waiting room, he started talking about the doctor he wanted to see. She had treated him for over 30 years and always kenw how to find a cure for his illness. He said he had sometimes gotten into arguments with her, but she always knew what was best for him. He genuinely cared for the doctor and got know her through their interactions at the clinic; he spoke of her as if she was an older sister. Much more than delivering a service, the doctor and patient developed a relationship that continued for many years. When I spoke with the doctor later in the day, she told me how beautiful it is to treat patients; the people really appreciate the work she does and she comes to work every day to serve her patients. I realized that the intellectual capacity and opportunity to pursue a career in medicine is not given to everyone in this world; those fortunate enough to have the intelligence and passion to study should try to make the most our of their talents to help others. For these reasons, I thought about how to use my gifts to improve the quality of life for others through medicine. 
Manuel Perez helping at a clinic associated with Access Community Health Network
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When I began my adventure at Mercer Street on June 1st,I’m not sure what
I was expecting – possibly that theFood Bank would resemble the pantry in my hometown,
or maybe that it would operate like a grocery store. Either way, that first
glimpse of the warehouse took me by surprise: a small fortress of banana boxes,
letter carrier bins piled high, and cases upon cases of foods in greater
quantities than I’d ever seen! Since that first morning, the Food Bank has continued
to surprise me with the sheer scope of its operations and the emergency food
network it supports; I only hope that my work over these past few months has
contributed in some small way to its mission. I focused my internship on
several primary projects, the first of which was aiding in the development of a
Food Stamp Outreach program. Because many people are unaware that they are eligible
for food stamps, or have difficulty navigating the application process on their
own, food banks and other nonprofit organizations throughout New Jersey send representatives
into the community to screen needy individuals for eligibility, guide them
through the application, and act as their link to county officials. In addition
to visiting several community sites and working directly with applicants
myself, I helped develop paperwork for Mercer Street’s new food stamp program –
client information sheets, volunteer logs, waivers –and come up with outreach protocol
that will hopefully facilitate the program’s growth. The chance to meet with
clients one-on one and hear their stories firsthand was a powerful way for meto
put a face to the sometimes abstract problems of hunger and poverty in Mercer
County. Another highlight of the summer for me was the chance t serve as the
Food Bank’s "green grocer” each Thursday. It was my job to inventory the delivery of fresh produce and develop a system
for distributing it to agencies. Needless to say, I’ve become quite familiar
with New Jersey produce after sorting through several thousand pounds of it each week! When I heard from
agency representatives that not all of their clients know what to do with these
vegetables once they receive them, I created a guide to cooking with fresh produce, offering tips for storing
produce, step-by-step instructions for several cooking methods, and a selection
of easy recipes featuring some of the fruits and vegetables we distribute. Lastly, I devoted a significant
amount of time to researching the issue of food access in Trenton. With only
two full-service grocery stores for a population of 76,000, it is difficult for
many of the city’s low-income residents to find and afford healthy, fresh foods. To help assess the extent of this need, I created a "food
resource” survey that was conducted at several other Mercer Street Friends’
programs, as well as at food bank member agencies. Combining data from this
survey – with questions about where residents do their grocery shopping, how easy
it is for them to find fresh produce, and the general quality of food in their
neighborhood – with my own research on barriers to healthy eating and the
health consequences of limited access to nutritious foods, I was able to
develop a series of recommendations for the Food Bank and other concerned agencies
seeking to combat these problems in Mercer County. This research became
something of a pet project for me, and I hope to use what I’ve learned as the
basis of my independent work back at Princeton in the fall.
One of the most important
challenges of the 21st century in Montgomery County and around the globe will
be the creation of sustainable community food systems where more healthy food
is locally produced, distributed, consumed, and composted in an efficient and
environmentally sustainable way that promotes public health through improved
eating habits, and unites the rural and suburban/urban communities around food.
By producing, distributing, and consuming more food locally and organically, we
can reduce the greenhouse gas emissions caused by shipping food long distances,
reduce the use of harmful pesticides and fertilizers, enjoy a wider variety of
nutritious fresh local foods, and fight childhood obesity by providing more
healthy food to "food deserts” and communities with limited access to these
foods. At the same time, we can
ensure the future economic and "food security” of the community, even as the
supply of fossil fuels dwindles and the oil-dependent industrial farms can no
longer produce and distribute food at their current capacity. 
This summer we are thrilled to
welcome Ogechi Oparah to our school community. Ogechi is the fourth
outstanding intern to come to us from the 
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