Rider University students are gaining insight into the complex problems and challenges of the unemployed and working poor through community-based research.
     Committed to making course material more tangible and meaningful for students, Rider faculty participate in service learning opportunities presented by the Trenton Center for Campus-Community Partnerships.
     Last semester, 51 students enrolled in Dr. David Rebovich's POL 201: Government and Economic Policy and POL 325: Public Administration courses fulfilled a request from the Trenton Area Soup Kitchen (TASK). Their assignment: to identify Trenton residents in need of emergency food services and their places of residence.
     As part of TASK's comprehensive pilot study, the students, who worked in teams, surveyed patrons of the Mount Carmel Guild Food Pantry. Using questionnaires developed by Rebovich, professor of political science at Rider, the Rider sophomores, juniors and seniors administered surveys to 222 patrons, 209 of which identified themselves as Trenton residents.
     Rebovich designed long and short surveys with the assistance of Dr. Peter Wise, TASK's executive director, and TASK board members and Sister Loretta Maggio at the Mount Carmel Guild. Students participating in the project combined their reading assignments and lectures with field research to better understand poverty in America and the delivery of social services to the poor.
     Results revealed that 80 percent of the patrons of the Mount Carmel Guild Food Pantry said they would use an emergency food kitchen if one were located in their neighborhood. Of this group, one-third reported that they lived with another adult who would also use a neighborhood soup kitchen, and one-half had children living with them who would also use a neighborhood soup kitchen. These numbers suggest that the "food needy" are not only unattached adults, but also members of nuclear families, noted Rebovich.
     Preliminary findings will be used to aid TASK in its quest to make informed decisions on how to direct its efforts. While on site, the students were provided with an overview of the Guild, its history, services, food pantry operation, and its experience dealing with the problems of poverty.
     "The TASK project has proven to be a unique, practical hands-on experience for students to test their theoretical and conceptual knowledge, apply technical skills and reflect on their views and values relevant to the topic of poverty in America," said Rebovich. "Most have noted that their assumptions about poverty and the poor were challenged and changed by their participation. I found the work professionally and personally rewarding."

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