Some University of Colorado students have been getting real-life experience out of their fall-semester writing course.

Students enrolled in the class "Hunger in America and Abroad" have been spending the semester writing funding letters, marketing plans, operations manuals and other reports for local nonprofits.

"We are actually writing for a purpose," said Anita Lowe, a junior integrative psychology major and one of 17 students enrolled in the new service-learning course. "It's not just a professor reading my work."

The course was developed by Neal McConomy, a writing instructor in the Program for Writing and Rhetoric at CU. McConomy said the goal of the course is to teach students about writing and hunger, while providing them with hands-on, meaningful experiences.

McConomy said the first year of the course has exceeded his expectations.

"It sounded like something worth trying," he said. "I decided I would give this a shot, and it's blossomed into so much more than a shot."

Laura Black, a junior communication major, said she has enjoyed the course because it's enabled her to help the community.

"This is the best class I've ever had because my work makes a difference," she said.

Students have worked with nonprofits including Conscious Alliance, Growing Gardens and the Boulder Shelter for the Homeless.

Greg Harms, executive director of the Boulder Shelter for the Homeless, said students have been primarily drafting funding grants for the organization.

"It gives us a head start on grant applications that we might not have gotten to otherwise," he said.

Students will present their research on the effects of hunger on different groups at a public symposium and food drive Dec. 3 called "The Skinny on Hunger."

McConomy said he hopes to continue teaching the course in the future. He said the most rewarding part for him has been the passion the students have brought to the class.

"There's 17 students in the class, from various backgrounds," he said. "And every one of the 17 comes to class interested, excited to do their work. I've never witnessed that before."