Student ~ Auburn University, Auburn, Alabama
Immersed, engaged, and active are three words that come to mind when thinking about Alayna.
Alayna Priebe is a junior in Business Analytics. She is also the Project Coordinator in the Office of Campus Dining for the development of the Nutrition Resource Center, and she is Vice President for Communications for the Campus Kitchen student group.
One of Alayna’s first experiences in her college career was visiting a low-income independent living housing facility for seniors while volunteering with the Campus Kitchen. Her work involved hosting a “community meal,” where residents would socialize over a free meal. Another early initiative was creating the Rinse Repeat program to move campus dining locations away from single-use plastic utensils and toward a dish reuse system. As Student Project Manager for Campus Dining and Vice President of Communications for the Campus Kitchen, Alayna has been instrumental in securing, planning, and overseeing Campus Kitchen’s move from the Hill Dormitories basement to a prime location in the future nutrition resource center housed in Lupton Hall.
During the fall term, Alayna’s leadership ability helped Campus Kitchen distribute over 8,000 meals to food-insecure people in our community. In addition to providing food for so many, the diversion of what would otherwise have been food waste prevented over 30,000 pounds of greenhouse gas emissions.
Recently Alayna hosted a conversation between Auburn Fisheries and Aquaponics, the Community Garden, Campus Food Pantry, Campus Kitchen, and graduate and undergraduate students to devise the most efficient, effective, and collaborative way to connect underserved students with fresh produce. Before this, each unit was working within its own silo, creating needless gaps and overlaps.
Alayna is a force for change. She generates creative ideas and collaborates with others to make them happen.
