Last spring, our mouths often began to water as we walked through the Danforth University Center on Friday mornings, drawn by the sight of several different varieties of challah—all of which were ours to devour with a simple campus card purchase. The challah were baked by a student group called Challah for Hunger, which sold the traditional Jewish bread to raise money for charities that combat area hunger.

This year, the challah are conspicuously absent, and Challah for Hunger has been forced to suspend activities due to a health regulation mandating that no item cooked in a non-commercial kitchen can be sold on campus.

This regulation is a necessary consequence of public-health concerns, made worse by the swine flu epidemic. But its enforcement meant peril for the members of the Challah for Hunger group, who had baked all of their challah in Residential Life kitchens on Thursday nights before selling it on Fridays in the DUC.

Fifty students have now been diagnosed with swine flu, and the University has taken steps—including the enforcement of this regulation and the placement of hand-sanitizer dispensers on residence hall floors—to prevent further consequences.

We feel that these steps are necessary, and by no means do we wish to make light of the health threat that swine flu poses.

Since being informed, the Challah for Hunger organizers, sophomores Hannah Shaffer and Hannah Rabinowitz, have been working incessantly to find an alternative venue in the community, but they admit that it’s proven difficult—neither student is a St. Louis native, and they have few connections to commercial kitchens in the area. They have put thought into making an arrangement with Bon Appétit but have not been able to do so because of liability issues.

The group has secured a venue starting fall 2010 in the Hillel kitchens, which are currently used by Bon Appétit to bake their kosher food, but will be vacant next year when Bon Appétit changes locations. But Challah for Hunger cannot start using the Hillel kitchens until fall 2010, which leaves the young organization—less than a year old—out of commission for an entire year.

We believe that the University should further collaborate with the students who lead Challah for Hunger to find a means of operating for the coming academic year. Challah for Hunger could continue to function as a charity if it worked with the University to find a viable commercial kitchen in the community. The students in Challah for Hunger have demonstrated their desire to keep the organization functioning, and we hope the University further works with them to continue this worthwhile cause.

Our University takes pride in its community activism, and the Challah for Hunger group parallels this mission. The group raised more than $3,000 for charity last year and won several awards for community service, reflecting favorably on the University and demonstrating the effective grassroots efforts of a small group of students.

It’s important to note that Challah for Hunger is not the only student group that is affected by this policy.

No student group is now permitted to fundraise through bake sales, and this makes it important that student groups collaborate, be creative and find alternative fundraising options if this policy affects them.

Even if finding an alternative venue for Challah for Hunger proves impossible with the best efforts of the University, we encourage the student body to keep the mission of Challah for Hunger in mind and to continue the University’s tradition of service. We must do our best to ensure that Challah for Hunger recovers from the swine flu epidemic.

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Tags: backed goods, Challah for Hunder, swine flu

This entry was posted on Wednesday, September 30th, 2009 at 12:00 am and is filed under Forum, Staff Editorials. You can follow any responses to this entry through this feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.