The University Center for Community and Civic Engagement will host this semester’s first Community Partnership Series program on Wednesday.

The Brown Bag Food Project, a food pantry serving Wood County, will be the community partner for the first program in Hayes Hall Room 301 at 1 p.m. Wednesday.

Jane Rosser, director of the Center, said BBFP is learning how to sustain itself as a new nonprofit.

“They fit a particular kind of niche in town…Brown Bag has picked up a sort of hidden group,” Rosser said.

BBFP serves a group that other area pantries can’t serve because of their requirements. These pantries have to turn those in need away due to quotas of how much and how often food can be given to each person or family.

“A lot of people assume that we don’t have hunger issues among young people,” Rosser said.

She said many people think of young children and the elderly as having food insecurities, but miss that 18-year-old college student who lives off campus without a meal plan.

The Brown Bag Food Project also fills this gap in service, where most food pantries wouldn’t be allowed to serve the student for appearing healthy and able to work.

“They’re getting a little overwhelmed because they’ve grown so quickly because many of the other food pantries refer people to them because they can’t serve them,” Rosser said.

The pantry doesn’t have any employees, just volunteers, and the project’s biggest need is for volunteers to help with their media and communications, Ben Case, Civic Action Leader in CCCE said.

Rosser said while some might come to the event because they’re passionate about food insecurity, those interested in video production, media and social media would also come to get some real world experience while volunteering.

The Brown Bag Food Project is just one of several community organizations that CCCE hopes to bring partners to through the Community Engagement Series.

The role of the Center of Community and Civic Engagement is to connect the University to the community in practical ways for students who want to enhance their education with experience, Rosser said.

The series is meant to be a simple way to connect these community agencies with students and even faculty and staff at the University, while also allowing the agency to learn more about what the University has to offer.

The civic action leaders try to pick diverse themes that relate to different student interests to help reach as many students and partners as possible while building a portfolio of experiences.

“Sometimes it’s hard because we have so many organizations we’d like to highlight,” Rosser said.

During each series, the partner will explain the organization and what kind of involvement it needs from students and staff.

“It’s not them talking at you. It’s more so talking together and figuring out how everyone can get involved,” Case said.

He said the series is meant to be informal, with coffee provided, and people can even bring their lunch if they’d like.

“Our partners are passionate about connecting with students, and they see students as a rich resource in all sorts of areas,” Rosser said.

The benefits of the series don’t stop at creating partnerships that day, however.

Many students take the information back to student organizations, giving other students information about how to get involved. Learning more about the community agency also gives those working in CCCE a better understanding on how to direct future students using the center’s services.

“Just one partnership makes it worth it,” Case said.

The partnerships have potential to lead to more, with several agencies offering internships and summer jobs to their volunteers.

“Many of our nonprofits, if they have jobs, they usually turn to their volunteers first,” Rosser said.

Case himself has built a strong relationship through the series, where he met the volunteer coordinator of Wood Lane, a local center for developmentally disabled persons. Now Case is doing his field placement at Wood Lane and going to the Special Olympics in Columbus.

“All these fruitful partnerships have begun just because of the Community Partnership Series,” he said.