Dietetic majors to paint pots to celebrate Earth Day, support The Store

The Student Dietetic and Nutrition Association (SDNA) is hosting “Paint a Pot, Plant a Garden” on April 21 to celebrate Earth Day. Photo illustration by Brittany Tankersley

By Luke Araujo | Staff Writer

The Student Dietetic and Nutrition Association (SDNA) is hosting “Paint a Pot, Plant a Garden” from 2 p.m. to 5 p.m. Friday at Burleson Quadrangle in celebration of Earth Day.

At the event, which was first hosted in 2021, SDNA members and students of all majors can pay $8 for a pot to paint. After painting, they will be given a small plant or succulent for their newly painted pots.

Happy Valley, Ore., sophomore and SDNA philanthropy chair Kailey Lewis said one of the main goals of the event is to raise money for Baylor’s on-campus food pantry, The Store.

“All of the money we are raising from Paint a Pot is going to be used to buy food for The Store,” Lewis said. “We do three food drives a semester where students donate, and all of it goes to The Store.”

SDNA worked with Meals on Wheels before the COVID-19 pandemic. The organization is currently expecting to work with Meals on Wheels again in the next school year.

As part of the organization’s monthly routine, SDNA members listen to speakers in relevant fields and ask questions about internship processes, exams and career paths. Nutrition majors, being a small portion of the student body at Baylor, are invited to form connections with each other through the common ground that SDNA provides.

After graduating, SDNA members are matched with internships that they must complete to be able to take a registered dietitian exam. Because of this, members of the organization put SDNA on their resumes after graduation.

“Everyone has their ideas about what career they want to go into,” Lewis said. “But when you get to have someone come in and tell their journey about how they got to where they are, you see all the different paths, and it blows your mind.”

While SDNA will be hosting the event, all students are welcome to attend and paint a pot of their own. To RSVP for the event, visit the event page on Connect.