#BeTheOasis
The project Urban Desert started with a task in our high school leadership class to make a positive impact in an area you're passionate about. A simple idea. One might expect that teenagers living in a suburb only 10 miles down the road from Flint, the city with the highest poverty rate in the country, would be familiar with the daily struggles of many of its residents, but this is not the case. Flint residents struggle in silence. That silence sparked our passion. We decided to focus on the issue of food insecurity in Flint. Residents should have access to fresh, healthy, affordable food. There are some organizations in Flint trying to make it happen, but they can't do it alone. To make matters worse, many people are not even aware of the issue. The purpose of Urban Desert is to spread the word to uninformed people so they can help support these organizations. To raise awareness for food insecurity in Flint we launched a social media campaign on twitter, instagram, and facebook where people can share their thoughts on the food insecurity issue using the hashtag #BeTheOasis. Our goal is that increased awareness for this hidden problem will remove Flint residents from the food desert, and move them into our oasis.