ABSTRACT
Previously, we partnered with food banks to design a service-learning course in our Industrial Distribution Program to help food pantries deliver food and solve their operational problems. However, students complained that we did not provide well-defined problems for students to solve in this course. They suggested that we provide well-designed processes, activities, and pre-designed tools so that they can save much time and focus on better serving the clients. For this purpose, we participated in a Houston Food Bank (HFB) Needs Assessment project. Apart from helping the HFB to determine the needs of the clients and HFB post-COVID-19, this project was also designed to provide a roadmap for future service-learning courses to follow. This project was conducted in the summer of 2021. The project team consisted of members from Industrial Distribution Program and HFB. To design the project, we discussed the issues, identified agencies and clients, decided on data collection methods, formulated focus group questions, and chose survey instruments. We implemented the data collection and analyzed the data, followed by writing a report and presenting the results. In addition to providing a guideline for food banks and pantries to distribute food, this project can be used to design better service-learning courses in Industrial Distribution Program that can enhance community impact. The next step is that in the fall semester of 2021, we launched another food insecurity service-learning course that followed our project design and execution to avoid the aforementioned issues, allowing food agencies and students to better serve the communities. © American Society for Engineering Education, 2022