Above, left to right, Assistant Dean for K-12 Partnerships and Civic Engagement Fagan Forhan, Staff Assistant for the Senator Stephen M. Brewer Center for Civic Learning Julie Cronin, Student Leader in Civic Engagement Jake VanHillo, Student Leader in Civic Engagement Tammy Goodgion, Student Leader in Civic Engagement Laryssa Truesdale and Director of the Senator Stephen M. Brewer Center for Civic Learning and Community Engagement Shelley Errington Nicholson/Courtesy Photo
Mount Wachusett Community College is opening an on-campus food pantry this fall to address food insecurity among its students.
The new venture, called the Food for Thought Campus Pantry, was announced Friday, Sept. 15, during MWCC’s annual Day of Caring, along with a month-long food and fundraising drive.
“Two out of three community college students are food insecure and the Mount is not an exception to that,” said Southern New England Campus Compact AmeriCorps VISTA Jana Murphy, who spearheaded the creation of the food pantry last year while she was a student at MWCC. “We have students come in who haven’t eaten in days and they are not able to concentrate in class at all. Even having one meal at school can make a difference in how they do in their classes. We also have a lot of students who have kids and don’t know how they are going to put a meal on the table. It is my hope that the Food for Thought Campus Pantry can be an assistance to any of our students in need.”
The pantry, which will officially open in October, was the brainchild of the Students Serving Our Students program based out of the Sen. Stephen M. Brewer Center for Civic Learning and Community Engagement.
Along with announcing the food pantry, the school kicked off a month-long food and fundraising drive that was started by a $1,000 donation from Brewer himself. It will help kick-start the operation of the food pantry, which will operate in partnership with the Gardner Community Action Committee. Food will be provided for students living in Gardner, Templeton, Westminster, Ashburnham and Hubbardston.
Gardner GAC Executive Director Julie Meehan said she is looking forward to the collaboration.
“Students are working hard to further their education and make a better life for themselves,” Meehan said. “If we can work with the school to help eliminate the barrier of hunger, or any other barrier, to a increased self sufficiency, it just makes sense to develop and strengthen this relationship. It’s exciting to see the founding students of the food pantry so passionate about helping other students and the strong desire to see their fellow students succeed.”
According to Murphy, research makes clear community college students experience higher food insecurity than the rest of the population. The Wisconsin Hope Lab recently released data from their 2017 study on food insecurity and homelessness in which they surveyed over 33,000 students at 70 community colleges in 24 states. The results from the study found two out of three community college students are food insecure.
Murphy said Mount Wachusett Community College is no exception to the growing student food insecurity problem. Peer Mentors of the SOS program report over 90 percent of students who were seeking services or referrals from SOS mentors during the 2016-17 academic year were struggling with food insecurity.
The SOS office runs a food voucher program and gives out snacks and prepackaged meals to students in need. During the 2015-16 academic year, 246 vouchers were distributed to 30 students. Of the students who received vouchers in the fall semester of 2015, there was a 100-percent retention rate. For the students who received vouchers in the spring 2016 semester, there was a 77 percent retention rate.
“It is important for the food pantry to be located on campus as many of the community pantries are not accessible to students due to conflicting class schedules and lack of access to transportation,” said Murphy.
The Food for Thought Campus Pantry will operate out of Room 192 at the Gardner campus Mondays and Thursdays, 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. Students who are not able to access the food pantry can contact the SOS office, where SOS mentors will be available 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. to open the pantry on request. The food pantry is available to any student enrolled at Mount Wachusett Community College and no proof of income is required. For more information contact Jana Murphy at jmurphy49@mwcc.mass.edu.
Walter Bird Jr. is editor of Worcester Magazine. Share story tips and comments at 508-749-3166, ext. 322, or by email at wbird@worcestermag.com. Follow Walter on Twitter @walterbirdjr and “like” him on Facebook. Don’t miss Walter every week on WCCA TV 194 as a panelist on Rosen’s Roundtable.
