Search | Menu Madison College Students Help Peers With Food Insecurity; Foundation Launches Meal Appeal Campaign
Crock pots were on the mind of Madison College Peer Health student Janvier Mukunzi recently.
He enticed students by giving out the handy kitchen equipment for free and supplying all the ingredients and recipes to make chicken and rice, and even a delicious lava cake.
But Mukunzi isn’t an inspiring chef, he’s just helping Madison College students, peer-to-peer, who struggle with food insecurity.
From the Cupboard Student Food Pantry’s 12x14 storage closet in the Health Education Building, more than 16,000 pounds of food and household products are distributed each year.
Last fall term, 949 students were served, an increase over 2022, and the pantry is on track to have 1,600 student visits this year, says Denise Holin, Cupboard Pantry Coordinator and Student Health Educator.
Under pressure of inflation and skyrocketing rents, Madison College students and their families are facing food insecurity; an official term for when there is limited or inconsistent access to healthy and affordable food.
Federal data shows that food insecurity negatively impacts student’s academic performance, and mental and physical health.
“A lot of what students share is that money is tight, and they need a little help because they don’t get paid until the end of the week or tuition is due,” Holin says. They struggle with hunger and making ends meet by relying on cheap and unhealthy food. The largest barrier is that students have not been exposed to healthy eating, how to navigate resources, or how to balance or organize budgets…the root cause of lack of financial literacy. So, we teach, train, and educate students, not just in the classroom.”
More Than Just Food
Ironically, Mukunzi is helping students in the U.S. the same way he did in his home country of Rwanda.
There, he taught people about nutrition and what vegetables to grow, and how to prepare healthy food. When he came to Madison College to study, he continued where he left off.
Mukunzi, who is graduating in May with a liberal arts associate degree in economics and business, says there are a lot of reasons students are facing food insecurity: rising costs, saving money to pay for school, or not being able to work with a full load of credits, or face burdens of supporting a family.
“Having these Madison College pantry resources help them in this way,” Mukunzi says. “We are not just giving students food, we are educating and providing them with different ways they can help themselves and their families.”
The Cupboard Student Food Pantry Truax campus is open Tuesdays from noon to 2 p.m. and Wednesdays from 9-11 a.m. and at Goodman South Campus on Thursdays from 2-4 p.m.
There’s food, of course, all non-perishables, but there are also weekly freebie bags with toilet paper, paper towels, laundry soap, and other essentials.
Holin, along with Mukunzi and other Peer Health Educators run the pantry, unloading food pallets, stocking shelves, making food bags, and meeting with students one-on-one.
With robust energy, the group also hosts fun health and nutrition activities. For National Nutrition Month, there were giveaways of rice cookers, crock pots, and cookbooks for students who signed up for the pantry. There will also be an herb gardening workshop coming in April.
Pantry users also get food from the Madison College Garden and a Community Supported Agriculture (CSA) partnership that brings fresh farm-grown fruits and vegetables to the pantry.
They also learn about other resources, such as nearby community food pantries, free meal locations, baby needs, counseling, legal clinics, health insurance, pet care, and more.
This multi-prong approach to fulfill student’s needs and refer them to a resource network has been successful.
“The programming and educational component of the food pantry is almost as important as the weekly food,” Holin says.
Appealing to Donors
Holin tells a heartwarming story about a former student pantry user, who instead of holding a graduation party, she asked all her friends and family to donate food to the pantry. A loaded truck made the special delivery to the grateful Holin and her student workers.
“She brought in all those donations instead of having a party because she said she wouldn’t have made it without the food pantry,” Holin says.
But the reality is that donations to the Madison College Cupboard Student Pantry are dramatically down. Holin blames a universal culprit.
“We used to get a lot more donations, but the inflation has crunched us, so we are not seeing the amounts we used to see,” Holin says.
To reverse the donor dive, the Madison College Foundation is launching the Meal Appeal Campaign this month to help feed students, with every dollar matched up to $10,000.
After hearing about students who were hanging out around the cafeteria hoping to get leftovers, Bryan Woodhouse, Madison College Foundation vice-president of development, helped launch the donor campaign.
It’s an appeal with a mission to fulfill a basic need of students.
“We are making this appeal with urgency,” Woodhouse says. “With finals coming up in May we don’t want students to go hungry as they approach this critical time of the year in their education.”
Another troubling barometer of students’ needs is the rise in requests for student emergency grant funds, which helps cover housing, rent, utilities, transportation, and other essential expenses.
“That showed us that we needed to do more; the foundation had never ventured into this type of campaign, but we saw a real need to do so,” Woodhouse says. “Sometimes it’s all these ancillary needs that prevent students from starting or continuing another semester. They want to finish their program and move into a stable career but if they can’t eat, pay their rent, or fix their car when it breaks down, they can’t get to class.”
Money raised from the donor campaign will be put on Student One Cards for assistance with purchases at the Madison College cafeteria when students don’t have enough money to pay for their meals. Woodhouse says that money will also assist the pantry with food and other essential items.
In addition to the Madison College Foundation donation campaign, Holin says both money and donations are needed at the Student Cupboard Food Pantry, especially items that can’t be bought at Second Harvest Food Bank. The most in-demand supplies are deodorant, body lotion, shampoo, conditioner, paper towels, toilet paper, dish soap, hand soap, laundry soap, and Kleenex.
With the use of new food lockers that let students get supplies after hours, and the mission to lift just not hand them out to students, the Madison College Cupboard Pantry is finding ways to meet students’ needs and setting them up for success at college and beyond.
The Madison College Cupboard Student Pantry has been successful in its limited mission and can serve as a model for other technical colleges, Holin says. As here, and other colleges across the country, food insecurity among students is not going away, so Holin says is best to prepared for the future.
“People tell me about all the things we could do and of course, there are so many possibilities, but the reality is that we need money, resources, and people to make that happen,” Holin says.
Ways You Can Help
Donate
Donate to the Madison College Foundation Meals Appeals Campaign.
Donate items to the Madison College Cupboard Student Food Pantry. Items needs for the 2024 Spring Semester include essential personal care items: deodorant, body lotion (8 oz or larger), shampoo, conditioner, Kleenex, paper towels, toilet paper(4-pack), liquid laundry soap (10-25 oz), dryer fabric sheets, liquid dish soap (12-16 oz), hand soap (8-12 oz). For more information, contact Cupboard Student Food Pantry Coordinator Denise Holin at dholin@madisoncollege.edu.
Volunteer
Volunteer at the Madison College Garden and help support students receiving fresh produce at the Cupboard Student Food Pantry. Volunteers are needed from April to the end of harvest to plant seeds, water, weed, harvest plants and wash/bag produce for the pantry. The pantry is open Tuesdays at Truax for summer term from 12-2 p.m. so most volunteer hours would be Monday or Tuesday mornings. Please email Denise Holin at dholin@madisoncollege.edu, if interested.
