Food pantry to be launched at FM | News, Sports, Jobs - Leader ... - Gloversville Leader-Herald

Food pantry to be launched at FM | News, Sports, Jobs - Leader ... - Gloversville Leader-Herald

JOHNSTOWN — Fulton-Montgomery Community College will launch a food pantry on campus in February to provide food access to students in need in accordance with Gov. Andrew Cuomo’s No Student Goes Hungry program.

Cuomo proposed the No Student Goes Hungry program in his 2018 State of the State Address at the end of 2017. The program is intended to provide students of all ages, backgrounds and finances access to healthy, locally sourced meals from kindergarten through college for improved learning.

In addition to a number of initiatives at public schools, the program seeks to prevent food insecurity and hunger among college students by requiring that all public colleges in the State University of New York and City University of New York system have a food pantry or stigma-free food access for students by the end of the fall semester.

During Thursday’s Board of Trustees meeting, Student Trustee Valerie Elwood reported on FMCC’s plans to open a food pantry on campus in February, the food pantry is being organized by coordinator for student services, Gwendolyn Ossenkop, and the Student Senate.

According to Elwood, the school must successfully operate the food pantry independently for six months before it can receive support from the Regional Food Bank of Northeastern New York.

“We’re hoping to do that and do it with great success, I know a lot of the students would really benefit,” Elwood said. “There are some provisions that must be accounted for, there’s things that have to happen and be set in motion before it can open to our students.”

The Regional Food Bank distributes donations of edible but unmarketable food to not-for-profit organizations serving the ill, needy or infants. Supported member agencies must have proper facilities for storing, handling and preparing food for distribution to those in need.

The Food Bank monitors member agencies on a regular basis to ensure food is handled in a safe and sanitary manner and participating organizations must provide monthly statistics to the Food Bank on the number of people they serve.

SUNY created a Food Insecurity Task Force following the governor’s announcement of the No Student Goes Hungry program to study food insecurity on college campuses and to recommend actions and best practices to address the issue. FMCC is currently working with SUNY organizations to develop and implement the food pantry.

Shelving is already in place for the pantry that will be located outside of the student activities office on the lower level of the student union.

Chief Advancement Officer and Executive Director of the FM Foundation Lesley Lanzi related to the board that the foundation will be the fiscal agent for the food pantry and the school received a $300 donation from a single donor to support the food pantry.

Elwood added that several student clubs and organizations will be hosting food drives in the coming months to help stock the food pantry.

“I think it’s going to be a great thing,” Elwood said.