"Food banks confront hunger at community colleges; Seeing need, food banks target campuses like Bunker Hill Community College in Massachusetts" by Mary Carmichael | Globe Staff, May 12, 2012
Wilfredo Melendez said he had never needed charity before. But last summer, after leaving the Army and enrolling in Bunker Hill Community College, things started to unravel. He couldn’t find a part-time job to make ends meet. He got divorced. His wife moved out of state, leaving him to care for their 6-year-old son.
Last week, the 30-year-old was facing “streaky’’ finances, he said. Finals were looming. His little boy needed to eat.
So when a team of volunteers from the Greater Boston Food Bank showed
up at Bunker Hill on May 2 bearing produce and frozen meats, Melendez
took “pretty much one of everything they had,’’ went home, and made
himself and his son a dinner of sweet potatoes and pork chops. It might
as well have been Thanksgiving, he said: “I was so grateful.’’
Bunker Hill is one of many colleges confronting campus hunger, an issue that has failed to make its way into mainstream discussion even as debate swirls in the state Legislature about reforms to the community college system.
Why hasn't it made it into.... never mind, mainstream(?) media.
Also see: Globe Goin' Back to School
The problem has intensified as adults, often out of work and with families to feed, flock to community colleges for retraining - and as the colleges look for new ways to keep those students in school.
See: Sunday Globe Special: Student Loan Legacy
“A lot of students don’t do too well on tests simply because they’re not eating right. But students who eat well can test well,’’ said Stephenson Aman, Bunker Hill’s 27-year-old student government president, who “grabbed some carrots and potatoes and a little yogurt, but not too much’’ for himself from the food bank.
At least two other Massachusetts community colleges are trying new approaches to ensure their students are well-fed.
North Shore Community College is raising money for a fund to give students emergency $7 vouchers to its cafeteria, and Greenfield Community College opened a food bank last year after noticing that free snacks at a campus event disappeared at a frighteningly rapid clip.
Welcome to my world and alma mater.
They used to have a kitchen and cafeteria, but that's all gone now.
The food bank has now served 1,000 students, and this semester, the school doubled its hours.
“We’re delighted to have one,’’ said Greenfield president Bob Pura, “and sad that it’s so popular.’’
Other schools across the country have opened food banks for students since the recession began. Owens Community College in Ohio started two in February, one for each of its campuses, to help students who are not eligible for food stamps.
The University of Georgia, that state’s flagship public school, put one in place late last year.
Although Bunker Hill’s giveaway last week lasted only a few hours, the Boston food bank will hold another event on campus June 20 and is working with the school to set up a permanent pantry by fall.
Going where hungry students are makes sense, said Catherine D’Amato, chief executive of the Boston bank....
I noticed the elite usually serve up some pretty good buffets.
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