Originally started as a small organization at UNC-Chapel Hill known as Hunger Lunch, Nourish International set off to eradicate global poverty and is currently looking to expand its chapter at UNCW.

Chapter Founders must be full-time students, in good standing with their university and have at least one full school year remaining. Qualified candidates at UNCW will be contacted for a phone interview with Nourish staff and will be notified of their status.

Nourish International was founded by student Sindhura Citineni in 2003, and became an official non-profit organization in 2006. After the success of Hunger Lunch in the Carolina Challenge (a business plan competition at UNC-Chapel Hill), organizers decided to expand to other college campuses and changed the name to Nourish International.

So far, Nourish International has chapters at Duke and N.C. State. By working with the community, members are able to conduct projects designed for a specific need. For example, Nourish Chapters worked with their community to gain resources to build a clean water system capable of serving 5,000 people for the people of Ciudad de Dios, Peru.

Working mostly as an entrepreneurship, Nourish International is a student-run organization where undergraduates try to raise enough money through small business “ventures.” Hunger Lunch is an example of one of their successful “ventures” where students can purchase a healthy meal of cornbread, beans and rice to fund a nutrition project in Hyderabad, India.

“At the end of the year, students invest their money from their ventures in sustainable development projects abroad,” said Chapter Founders Team Member Brennan Eberly.

According to the Nourish International Web site, “Projects are selected based on their ability to demonstrate community support, long-term sustainability and potential for impact.” After the project’s completion, Nourish members keep in contact with their partners to ensure the success.

Nourish is the winner of the 2008 North Carolina Peace Prize for excellence in cross-cultural solutions and sustainable development. The organization gives students the experience they need to aid in the social change movement. It also gives students the experience of running a small business on campus and responsibility for seeing that small business come to a successful fruition.