The Mobile Food Pantry is Helping College Students Succeed

Hunger on college campuses is a growing problem across the country, including Los Angeles County. Two of the top five blog posts from 2019 relate to this topic, and it’s no wonder why.

Some individuals use college to break the cycle of poverty. They seek to learn new skills and create a future for themselves where they don’t need to rely on resources like the Food Bank. In a recent blog post from 2020, for example, Matthew talks about his biology major and his ambitions to become a doctor. However, without food assistance, he may have to drop out to pay his basic living expenses. 

The 2019 article features Dean of Students Dr. Maryann Tolano-Leveque, who was an early advocate for the Citrus College program upon realizing the urgent need for food assistance among her students. “A lot of students were facing food insecurity, and the faculty didn’t know where to send them.”

Executive Summary: Real College Survey Says Half of CA Community College Students Experience Food Insecurity

The second of the two college hunger blog posts earning a spot in the “top blog posts of 2019” was an executive summary of the Real College Survey, which is a study that many articles across the internet cited as a source. The survey highlights the somewhat alarming state of hunger on community college campuses.

Since this article was published, the Food Bank has posted stories on Pasadena City College program and UCLA’s Food Closet.

Program Spotlight: Extra Helpings

The Food Bank’s Extra Helpings Program rescues food from all over Los Angeles County and redirects it to our neighbors in need. Food rescue is a central piece to food banking – in fact, it’s how food banking began. In 1973, Los Angeles Regional Food Bank founder, Tony Collier, began to rescue food in his pickup truck and help to redirect it to those in need. Between 1973 and 2019, the Food Bank had recued more than 1.4 billion pounds. The Extra Helpings program rescued about 21 million pounds in 2019 alone, making up part of the 42.6 million pounds of food rescued by the Food Bank in the same year.

Learn more about how the Food Bank fights food waste:

• • Fighting Hunger, and Food Waste, Together
  • How the Los Angeles Regional Food Bank protects the Environment
  • Grocery Stores Help the Food Bank Fight Food Waste
  • Q and A with Food Bank President and CEO, Michael Flood

Given Hope and Nutritious Food

For most of her life, Melinda Glaum lived comfortably as a wife and mother of three — volunteering at her children’s schools and donating to needy families in her community. She never imagined being on the receiving end of such charitable efforts. “I never thought it was going to be me,” said Glaum. “I never thought about it until I was in that position.”

Several years ago, her financial situation went from comfortable to dire when her marriage of more than three decades ended.

Hungry Children Struggle on Three-Day Weekends

The Los Angeles Regional Food Bank serves children through programs during the week but also provides food distributions for families throughout the county which help to close the weekend meal gap- especially towards the end of the month when CalFresh benefits have been exhausted.

Laurel Estrada, Family Resource Center Coordinator for Villacorta Elementary School, has seen a lot during her time as an educator. The good memories outweigh the bad, but the bad ones do stick. “I’ve had students who have come to school on Monday so hungry that when we gave them food they almost immediately vomited,” she explained.  “And then they didn’t want to eat because they were afraid they would vomit again.”

Hunger Hero Spotlight: Ryan Rossow

In 2019, Ryan Rossow was finishing his high school education at Mira Costa in Manhattan Beach. He was also the President of South Bay Food Initiative – a program that lives on now that Ryan is in college.

The South Bay Food Initiative is a community organization that was created by Ryan Rossow, Andrew Cormack and Max Karambelas to help provide awareness and support to those with food insecurity. Every month they provide volunteer opportunities for our fellow students and others in the community to help out non-profits in the Los Angeles area that are committed to ending hunger. Ryan created a website to facilitate volunteer and fundraising opportunities and a platform where charities can let us know about upcoming events.