Food insecurity is an issue that impacts many people, and college students are no exception.
To help this issue, the Wolf Administration has launched a PA Hunger Free Campus Grant Program.
This grant program gives Pennsylvania colleges and universities the ability to combat hunger and food insecurity on campus.
In fact a local Cambria County school has created a student food pantry to support the same issue.
“It’s a problem across the country especially with this inflation situation that everyone’s facing. Students are struggling to eat sometimes, We realized that our students struggle with some food insecurity as well.”
Stumpf says he supports the Wolf Administration’s new grant program.
“I think it’s a great idea. Working with college students I see they have enough challenges in their daily lives to go to school, most of them; many of them work and worrying about where their next meals going to come from is a big issue,
If there’s government money to help with that, I would be all for that.”
Stumpf says to combat food insecurity on U.P.J’s campus, a student food pantry was added to campus in spring 2019.
“Our student government association had an idea. They initially called it ‘Food For Fines’ so any student who had parking fines, they could pay off their fines with food donations instead of paying the fines”
Besides food, the student pantry at U.P.J. also carries other products a student may need, but don’t necessarily have the money for such as laundry detergent, feminine products and toothpaste.
A senior at U.P.J says P.J.’s food pantry is a huge help for him and his peers and says he commonly does odd jobs to put food on the table.
“Like splitting firewood or like just, like working at Coal Tubin’ or something like that, blowing up tubes” says Alex Zakucia.
Stumpf adds anyone, even those without an affiliation to U.P.J can make a donation to P.J.’s Food Pantry!
