Community Fellows

Joining a Community of Practice is an immersive semester-long experience where a group of students partner with a local nonprofit and work to address a specific social issue through the lenses of education, service, philanthropy, and advocacy. Students will complete service hours at a local nonprofit twice a month, as well as work with their group to plan education and advocacy events for the App State community. Social issue themes for Fall 2024 are Food Security and Hunger Alleviation, Affordable Housing, Environmental Justice, and Local-to-Global Service. Students can expect to spend around 10 hours a month in this engagement (average 1-2 hours a week). If you are interested in becoming a Community Fellow, please complete the interest form below.

Environmental Justice

This Community of Practice (CoP) works with community partners such as Blue Ridge Women in Agriculture, Mountains-To-Sea Trail, and High Country Volunteers-in-Parks, usually in a half-day experience. This CoP regularly assists with trail maintenance and clearing, litter clean-up, invasive species removal, farm recovery, and the High Country Food Hub with Blue Ridge Women in Agriculture. This CoP will also be partnering with Appalachian State’s Quality Enhancement Plan (QEP) on climate literacy and resiliency by attending current events and possibly hosting future events under the QEP.

Food Security & Hunger Alleviation

This Community of Practice (CoP) works with partners such as Hunger and Health Coalition, Hospitality House, F.A.R.M. Cafe, and Casting Bread Food Pantry and Kitchen. This CoP will regularly assist with food pantry restocking, food donation gathering, meal preparation, and meal serving at these community partner organizations. The CoP will also help in specialized programs, such as Hunger and Health Coalition’s ‘A Simple Gesture’ program and F.A.R.M. Cafe’s ‘Small Bites for a Big Cause’ event. In total, these organizations provide almost 75,000 meals and food boxes served each month with our CoP volunteers making a meaningful difference in reaching this number.