National Park College (NPC) Honors Program student Steven Morgan completed his honors
internship with Dr. Chuck Burke, assistant professor and faculty mentor for the Helping
Hawks Food Pantry.
Morgan focused on securing a permanent location for the pantry and increasing the
number of people the pantry could serve throughout the year.
“The pandemic has hurt many people financially and I really wanted to help these people
struggling in any way I could,” said Morgan.
The food pantry is currently located in a closet inside an EMT classroom but will
be getting a permanent location by fall 2021. Instead of only being open one hour
each week, Morgan and Burke established a schedule that would allow the pantry to
be open four days per week. In response to the amount of donations received and the
COVID-19 pandemic, Morgan began handing out two bags of food instead of the previously
allotted one bag.
“My time as the president of the Helping Hawks Food Pantry was great. I cannot thank
Dr. Thrasher, associate professor of history and Honors Program director, and Dr.
Burke enough for all of their help. When I get older I want to run some nonprofits
myself in order to help the community and I feel like this has taught me a lot of
skills that I would need to know in order to accomplish this,” said Morgan.
Thrasher stated, “Steven's work embodies the virtues of academic excellence and community
service that the Honors Program promotes. With Dr. Chuck Burke as his mentor, Steven
took charge of the Helping Hawks, securing a permanent storage location on campus,
extending the hours of operation, and helping 50% more people. Steven is leaving NPC,
but the next generation of honors students is already stepping up to continue his
work.”
Burke stated, "Kyle was a terrific president who was always on time and willing to
step up when additional duties were needed. His help and smile will be missed!"
