Feeding the minds of prospective Profs

“We want to feed bellies and we want to feed minds,” said chairman and co-founder of Hungry Minds, Inc. Jeffrey Hayman.

Hayman and his wife, Debbie Hayman, formed Hungry Minds, Inc., a 501c3 charity out of Moorestown, New Jersey, in September 2019 with a mission to prevent and eliminate school lunch debts for southern New Jersey public school students. The organization sought to fund and participate in hunger prevention programs and support families struggling with food insecurity while also feeding students’ academic success.

“We’ve been passionate about hunger and education causes for many years and in many places,” said Hayman. “Feeding and educating is what we’re about.”

It started in the mid ’80s when the Haymans supported their local food bank and shelters in the Hartford, Connecticut area before spending 12 years in Tokyo and quickly getting involved there as well. 

“I was working incredible hours in Japan, so it was mainly Debbie doing amazing work over there,” said Hayman. “We worked with an operation collecting food that was about to expire from grocery stores and warehouses and distributed those items to the homeless.”

After their return to the Moorestown area, the Haymans were determined they could use both their time and their funds to help put an end to the national crisis that became student lunch debt.  They formed Hungry Minds, Inc. and began working with school districts on lunch debt relief programs.

But then a global pandemic hit.

“The pandemic essentially put that part of our organization out of business,” said Hayman. “The government took action and fortunately public schools now provide all students with meals at no cost. So really it was a good thing, and we were able to begin focusing on other programs, including our academic goals.” 

The Hungry Minds, Inc. Scholarship at Rowan University was established with a gift of $16,000 and will award its first recipient prior to the 2021-22 academic year. Recipients must be graduates of either Moorestown or Delran high schools with demonstrated financial need.

“We’ve been searching for the right time and the right partner to work with on a scholarship for graduates of area schools,” said Debbie Hayman, co-founder and president of Hungry Minds, Inc. “We are committed to helping feed public school students through graduation, but are now also committed to help a few of them pursue a higher education—feeding their minds as well.  We are pleased to be working with Rowan University and thankful for their support.”

Together, the Haymans have spent decades supporting various hunger and education initiatives and as local needs and demands continue to evolve, the couple continues to step in and offer unwavering support.

“We spent nine months during the height of the pandemic supporting families of public school students directly, delivering groceries instead of paying for lunches,” continued Jeff Hayman. “But due to the American Recovery Act, we were thankful for that part of our organization to be largely ‘put out of business’ as well. We have redirected funds to other organizations that fight hunger, but now we’re also excited and ready to take the next step in supporting academic success. We have a romantic notion in our mind that a student we helped in grade school will end up benefitting from this scholarship at Rowan, and we hope to see it grow for many years to come.”