Campus food banks help students through tough times
Ela Martinez-Moreno says she felt it was her fault, as if she had failed to follow some rule.
She had grown up in a middle-class family, earned Latin American studies and culinary degrees and gotten a job working with at-risk youth at a non-profit.Then, after Martinez-Moreno left her job to study food science at Oregon State University in Corvallis, her boyfriend unexpectedly lost his job. She realized they needed help.
She found part of the answer to their problem at Oregon State's food pantry, though she was hesitant at first to use it. "It's a really humbling experience," Martinez-Moreno says, but once she was in the door, the pantry became "a relief" and "a nice added bonus" to help her along. It was a positive experience that she now aims to help share as the pantry's paid outreach coordinator.
FULL USA TODAY ARTICLE.
I saw this article and it reminded me of the food bank that was started ten years ago in the huge community college where I used to teach.
ReplyDeleteFor many of my students, it was a saving grace from time to time. I had students write about it, about the shame and then the relief about their need of it.
One single mother benefited from it, and then became the bank's staunchest fundraiser.
Thanks for posting this Terry!
Our campus runs the local community food bank (for the town). It's pretty cool. Every other week, people line up and leave with boxes of food. It's a humbling experience to realize that not everyone in America has the food they need, but that a community can help support itself this way.
ReplyDeleteWait till the adjuncts start lining up....
ReplyDelete