Collins College of Hospitality ManagementStudent Erin Mascho embraces hospitality concepts as she fights childhood hunger, volunteers at a women’s shelter and travels to Africa.
I will reluctantly leave The Collins College this spring when I graduate. Over the last three years, I have: spent more time in The Restaurant at Kellogg Ranch than I have at home; commandeered countless professors’ computers; eaten (without fail) every available family meal; kept “office slippers” in Barbara Jean Bruin’s office; taken a nap in the President’s Dining Room (PDR), and used Chef Scott Rudolph’s office as my locker. The college has been a home away from home and a launching pad of sorts that has inspired me to take on new challenges. In each major turn – from traveling to Ghana, to working in a domestic violence shelter, to a summer internship fighting childhood hunger – I have been able to utilize my hospitality education.
I started to get to know my Collins College family back in high school. I came to Cal Poly Pomona to compete in a high school hospitality competition called ProStart. The competition is designed by the National Restaurant Association to engage high school students in the industry. I took part in the management section of the competition. Teams of four from around the state (and then around the nation) are judged on an impromptu presentation based off of a hospitality case study, and participate in a Jeopardy-style quiz. Looking back, ProStart prepared me incredibly well for The Collins College. At 16 years old, I was taught hospitality accounting equations, food safety/sanitation, knife cuts, management styles and more. Through the competitions, I had the pleasure of getting to know countless faculty and staff, industry heavyweights, and students from around the country.
My junior year has been my favorite year at Cal Poly Pomona. It was the year when confidence met limitlessness. I credit this feeling to the atmosphere at the college. Only at The Collins College would all of my ridiculous notions, like traveling to Africa to study politics, not only be accepted, but encouraged.
AFRICAN WANDERLUST
Just over a year ago, I studied abroad in Ghana. I’m not sure why I wanted to go to Ghana. I think I was driven to it because it was so incredibly foreign to me. Luckily, I was in good company. Unbeknownst to me, fellow Collins College student, Ivee Yu ’08, signed up for the same trip. For those of you who know Ivee, you can imagine just how much fun I had! The trip was phenomenal. We traveled around Ghana for
two weeks conducting interviews, learning about Ghanaian history and African politics, and most importantly, experiencing the Ghanaian culture. Cal Poly’s study abroad program in Ghana is unique in that it is not philanthropically based. It was made clear by our professor, Dr. Renford Reese, that we were there to learn— not to teach. This is a very difficult challenge for Westerners, me included. Although I
went to Ghana to learn, a part of me still felt like I would be able to help the Ghanaian people. It was a combination of narcissism and good intentions. My naive notions of being able to somehow solve Ghana’s problems vanished quicker than you can say “akwaaba” (“welcome” in Twi).
My experience in Ghana and later my experience in nonprofit organizations made me aware of complexities. The trip to Ghana was disillusioning but not discouraging. On my last day in Ghana, I witnessed a life-changing act of kindness. All of the Cal Poly Pomona students (who, at Ivee’s request, wore traditional African shirts known as dashikis) loaded their luggage into the vans heading for the airport. Amid the goodbyes and the last-minute pictures, I noticed a student opening her suitcase. She discretely proceeded to give away all of her clothes to people waiting by the hotel gates. At the time, I did not realize the ramifications this action would have on me. About a week after returning from Ghana, I
thought about that last day. I reluctantly reviewed my actions and what I had previously considered a pretty charitable, community-oriented life. I realized that despite my charitable feelings, I lacked charitable actions. The next week I began volunteering at the local domestic violence shelter, House of Ruth.
HELPING AT HOME
On the first day of training at House of Ruth, everyone went around the room and introduced themselves. The eight women before me either studied social work, retired from social work or were survivors of domestic violence. Then there was me, “Hi! My name is Erin and I am studying hospitality management.” Needless to say, I felt out of place. After training ended, I went to the one place where I felt comfortable— the kitchen. Plus, kitchen volunteers were not responsible for answering the hotline! I began by cleaning and organizing the kitchen. As Dr. Jerry Chesser would say, I made that kitchen “immaculate.” As many people know, I somewhat lack a culinary intuition. As a matter of fact, when I told my mom I volunteered in the shelter’s kitchen, she jokingly responded, “Haven’t those women been through enough?” Despite the doubt from friends and family, I made the shelter kitchen my home for the summer. The kitchen is truly the heart of the house. It is where the women come together, socialize, laugh, share stories, and comfort one and other.
After volunteering for three months, I was offered a job at House of Ruth as a weekend advocate. On the weekend, I am the only advocate on staff and am responsible for everything from answering the hotline to running house meetings. My involvement in the various parts of House of Ruth helped me to appreciate my hospitality education more than I already have. I started to draw connections between the hospitality industry and social services. For instance, the shelter’s kitchen is like any restaurant’s kitchen, except we do not charge our guests. The women’s rooms are like hotel rooms, with a slightly more in-depth check-in process. Lastly, the advocates are like concierges, but instead of finding hot attractions they help find jobs and housing. The principles of creating a guest experience still apply.
I don’t see hospitality and nonprofits as mutually exclusive. After all, people in the hospitality industry are incredibly suited for the nonprofit sector. People in the hospitality industry, like people in the nonprofit sector, work tirelessly to ensure the happiness and comfort of guests. Many hospitality and nonprofits provide the same basic services: food and shelter. It is an obvious partnership that has been largely overlooked. After drawing these connections, I wanted to learn more about the relationship between business and nonprofits. Consequently, I enrolled in a summer program at Georgetown University to study philanthropy and intern at a nonprofit.
SUMMER OF STRENGTH
During this past summer, I interned at Share Our Strength, the nation’s leading organization to end childhood hunger in America. It grants millions of dollars a year to food banks, summer meal programs and breakfast programs. Before interning at SOS, I was under the impression that hunger was not a big issue in the United States. After all, we are one of the wealthiest countries in the world. In fact, we are a nation that has health problems because of too much food. SOS gave me a crash course in hunger education. There are 36.2 million Americans – including 12.4 million children – that don’t have access to enough healthy food. That means that one out of every six children is at risk of hunger. How can this possibly exist in America? Billy Shore, the founder of SOS, explained to me that it is not due to lack of food or social programs. It is due to a lack of access to those programs and food. SOS focuses on the barriers to access. The best example of breaking down barriers is Share Our Strength’s work in Maryland. The organization spent $180,000 on programs there and as a result, school meal programs saw an increase of 21,000 students. That works out to SOS paying $6.25 per student to enjoy 184 meals a year.
What drew me to Share Our Strength? It wasn’t childhood hunger. After all, I had no idea how prevalent childhood hunger was until I began working at SOS. I was interested in the organization because Randi Kirshbaum, The Collins College’s director of development, told me about their connection to the hospitality industry. About 25 years ago, SOS started to use restaurants, chefs and other hospitality avenues to generate wealth—not fundraise. This means that SOS partners with hospitality organizations to boost business, deliver a product that guests want, and work toward ending childhood hunger at the same time. The symbiotic relationship is accomplished using cause marketing and social enterprises.
As an intern, I worked on the Great American Dine Out. The Dine Out is a weeklong event where thousands of restaurants around the country rally to raise money to end childhood hunger. Restaurants participate by donating a portion of their proceeds, promoting a specific menu item, selling SOS merchandise, or asking guests to make a donation. Last year, the Great American Dine Out raised and granted more than $500,000 to anti-hunger organizations around the country.
Interning at Share Our Strength pushed my abilities and comfort level. There is nothing quite like calling a restaurant to discuss childhood hunger and being hung up on. Luckily, the pains of blatant rejection were offset by countless victories by the Dine Out team. It is a remarkable feeling to recruit a restaurant and know that hundreds of kids will be fed as a result. The impact of SOS on communities constantly motivated me. The people who work at SOS truly are soldiers in the fight against childhood hunger.
I am fortunate to have learned from them.
Today my life, my aspirations, and my view of the world are all drastically different than they were a year ago. Yet, there was not a specific moment on which my life pivoted. Instead, each new interest I pursued changed me a little. That is what I love about college. You can change so much in such a short period
of time. As far as my future, your guess is as good as mine. I have a vague sense of what I would like to do after graduating. I would like to do something international, have a career that will utilize my hospitality background, and try to incorporate civic engagement in everything I do.
Seeing how this year went, Lord only knows where I’ll be next year!
Erin Mascho
