By Jared Teune
Grand Rapids Community College students in need of meal assistance can visit the campus food pantry maintained by Student Life. Evan Macklin, Coordinator of Student Life and Conduct, said the purpose of the food pantry is to support those who can’t afford the food on campus.
“The food pantry currently serves approximately 50 students each semester,” Macklin said. “For some of those students, this is the only source of food they have. It’s hard to be successful when your food tank is on empty.”
The Food Pantry is located near the Student Life and Conduct Office on the 1st floor of the Student Center Building. Students get to visit the pantry twice a month; once between the 1st and the 15th and another time between the 16th and the end of the month. They raised over 1,000 pounds of food for the pantry in April/May of this year for the Food Drive Team Challenge. If you’re looking for involvement the Student Life also hosts food drives throughout the year.
Students who want to be on the list for non-perishables must go through a verification progress through the Student Life and Conduct Office to see if they qualify. This may involve examining FAFSAs (Free Application for Federal Student Aid) and other credentials for the students, because the food pantry is meant to be a supplementary source of food for the students only. Each student who qualifies for the food pantry gets a maximum of two bags per month. A student will be put into a category for the number of bags depending on his or her number of dependents. The food pantry also accepts donations year-round in the form of cash, check or gift cards.
For more information contact Evan Macklin <EMacklin@grcc.edu>
