STOCKTON — San Joaquin Delta College officials celebrated the new and much larger food pantry geared specifically to students who may need it most.
The pantry, located in Room 101 of the Shima Center, is quite the upgrade from what it used to be: about the size of a an actual closet.
On Friday, administration and students got their first peek into the pantry that has been designed to resemble an open-air market. Shelves are packed to the edge with cereal, canned goods and packages of pasta.
On the other side of the room, a two-door refrigerator is filled with carton of grade AA white eggs, yogurt and almond milk. Next to that on a table are four steel microwaves.
“It looks like a little 7-11 in here,” Delta College Superintendent and President Kathy Hart joked before the ribbon-cutting ceremony.
Timing for the improved pantry couldn’t be better. A survey released this month by the California Community Colleges Chancellor’s Office and The Hope Center revealed that more than half of community college students have difficultly affording food or worry about where they will get their next meal.
In a separate study taken during the 2017-18 school year, about two out of every three community college students are qualified as “food insecure.” Nearly one in five are either homeless or do not have a stable place to live.
Lisa Cooper Wilkins, Assistant Superintendent and Vice President of Student Services, said California legislature allocated $2.5 million to state community colleges to help combat the issue. Delta College was awarded $35,000 and funding went toward converting an existing student lounge into a large food pantry. Aside from food, students also can find toiletry items such as mouthwash, toothpaste and bath tissue.
“It’s so fantastic that we’re going to be able to help those students who really need special and definite assistance with their food and security,” Hart said.
“It’s one of those things that I think we don’t really realize until someone calls it to our attention, so I’m very happy — I’m really proud of the students.”
Getting an idea on how to exactly take on a project like expanding the pantry took a lot of work, said Marsha Fernando, a student trustee with the Associated Students of Delta College.
After visiting numerous local food pantries in town and down in Bakersfield, Fernando, 61, was able to get a better idea of what kind of non-perishable food and necessities that students would need the most. Over several months, the idea and desire to grow the pantry finally became a reality.
“We’re going to bring in more students to let them know that we serve our students," she said.
The pantry is open to all Delta College students who are required to fill an online application yearly. To purchase items, they provide their student identification number for each visit.
Certain items are “priced” with various points and students are given 100 points to use at the pantry each semester (up to 16 points per week). Items such as Top Ramen cost one point, while larger items — bread, cheese, canned vegetables and pasta — can cost two or three points.
Delta College officials said monetary donations can be made to the cashier’s office in the Administration building, 5151 Pacific Ave., with checks payable to the “SJDC Student Food Pantry.”
Food donations of non-perishable food items can be made at the Office of Student Activities in the Shima Center, Room 101-C. The following items are accepted: canned meats, canned vegetables, canned soups, cereal, canned tomato products, peanut butter, canned fruit, condiments, dried pasta, dried rice, dried beans and shelf-stable milk, soy milk and almond milk. No glass jars, baby food or opened food.
The food pantry is open from 11 a.m. to 3 p.m. on Tuesdays, and 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. on Wednesdays and Fridays.
Contact reporter Nicholas Filipas at (209) 546-8257 or nfilipas@recordnet.com. Follow him on Twitter @nicholasfilipas.
