Beyond the Classroom: Muncie Scholar House Hosts a Stress-Reducing Freezer Meal Night

Muncie Scholar House, one of three Heartland Scholar House campuses, recently hosted a special freezer meal and meal planning event. The pressure of balancing school, work, and family life can be overwhelming, especially when it comes to getting a nutritious dinner on the table. This challenge was the inspiration for the event.

According to organizer and Academic Coach, Erin Crandall, the idea was born out of conversations with scholars who mentioned the stress of dinner prep after a long day of studying. “I have had some of my scholars mention that getting dinner ready can be stressful if they spend the day on campus studying,” Erin shared. “I want my girls to be able to focus as much time on school as possible when their kiddos are at childcare. Helping them prepare freezer meals for their crockpots allows them to focus on studying while dinner cooks at home.”

This focus on practical, time-saving skills directly supports the Muncie Scholar House mission, providing "life skills that benefit them as they strive for their degrees.” The hands-on format was essential, as Erin noted, "Sometimes when you are trying to encourage scholars to try something new, you need to walk with them through it to show them how capable they are."

For the event, Erin selected recipes that were not only quick to make but also inexpensive and kid-friendly. The core benefit of this focus is clear: teaching these single moms tricks to help them manage their time and money is an important part of their success. The stress reduction benefit is summed up perfectly: "There is nothing better than coming home from studying all day to a ready dinner!"

The event proved to be a powerful bonding experience, viewed by the residents as a "girls' night." A standout moment was when one scholar, who felt they never did things for themselves, enthusiastically said, "no this is great, I never do things for myself like this!"

The impact resonated deeply with the participants, including scholar Alivia: "I really enjoyed this meal prepping night. I got to meal prep, which made dinner time a lot easier, and I got to do it with other moms just like me!"

Erin hopes the long-term impact will be that they learned "how easy it is to prepare many meals in a short time." To support this, she followed up by sending them websites with many different, inexpensive freezer meals. Given the success of the night, Erin hopes to make it a recurring program, stating, "I would love to do this at the start of every semester!"

How You Can Support the Scholars

The "Beyond the Classroom" events, like our Stress-Reducing Freezer Meal Night, are a vital part of supporting the Muncie Scholar House's mission to provide practical life skills alongside academic guidance. 

We invite you to help us make this vision a reality:

• Support Future Events: A small donation can cover the cost of ingredients and supplies, directly allowing us to host more skill-building programs like this one.

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• Share Our Story: Help us spread the word about the incredible work Muncie Scholar House is doing. Share this post on your social media to connect us with other potential supporters and volunteers.

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A huge thank you to Commonway Church for their generous support and use of their wonderful facility.