This year, our DJHE team worked together to create and publish articles pertaining to our first issue’s theme: “Capital, Policy, and Inequity: Analysis of Our Broken System.” Turning our knowledge into action, we partnered with the Duke Minority Association of Pre-Medical Students (MAPS) to kick off the first day of MAPS’ Health Equity Week of Action by hosting a food drive for the Durham Community Food Pantry. The Durham Community Food Pantry works to end food insecurity in both Durham and Orange County through weekly food distributions and a mobile food pantry.

Food insecurity and the lack of access to affordable and nutritious food are related to an increased risk for countless chronic health conditions, such as diabetes, obesity, heart disease, mental health disorders, and more. President of MAPS Joan Ac-Lumor states how “we chose to focus on chronic conditions through the lens of health equity because so many marginalized groups have to live life with a chronic condition every day. Much of the time their struggle gets overlooked, so we thought it would be impactful to shed some light on just how difficult it can be.”

In the United States, about 5.1 million households are food insecure. Moreover, nearly 50,000 Durham residents are food insecure. Thus, we found it important to take action in reducing food insecurity within our community.

On March 9th, 2023, the food drive took place on Bryan Center Plaza, where MAPS and DJHE collected boxes and bags full of non-perishable food items for the pantry. Additionally, we provided an interactive component where students could answer the question “What does health equity mean to you?” on a sticky note and place their answers on a displayed poster board. We also handed out informational flyers spotlighting chronic illness awareness and prevention.

We are so glad our food drive made an impact on the Durham community and are excited for our future community engagement projects. See more photos from the event on our Instagram pages!

DJHE: @DukeHealthEquity

MAPS: @DukeMAPS