New food pantry at Waubonsee Community College aims to make sure all students have enough to eat

A new food pantry has opened at Waubonsee Community College’s Sugar Grove to help students dealing with food insecurity.

The new Gathering Resources and Offering Vital Essentials (GROVE) student food pantry is supported by local donations and planned partnerships with area food banks as well as through a student-led farming initiative that grows produce for the pantry.

Nearly 100 students have received assistance from the pantry since the fall semester began at the college a few weeks ago, school officials said.

Waubonsee freshman Ariana Rodriguez of Aurora said she has already used the pantry herself and that it “is a really good resource because not everyone can have a big budget for grocery shopping for the month or a meal for the next day.”

“I actually came here once to get some stuff for my house. I took some jelly, I took some tuna and a couple snacks too,” she said.

“It’s great for kids here,” Rodriguez added.

Clayton Muhammad, vice president of community engagement and external affairs for Waubonsee Community College, said the food bank fits in perfectly with the college’s mission.

The opening also coincides with September being national Hunger Action Month.

“This food pantry helps us redefine our relationship with our food providers and our non-profit worlds and all those who want to help students achieve their educational goals. But there may be some barriers, and food insecurity could be one of them,” he said.

Muhammad said the pantry helps strengthen “the student experience for them to be able to come to campus and understand that whether they don’t have food or forgot to pack a lunch, they may be low on funds – whatever it is – when they get to campus, there’s an opportunity to eat.”

Andrea Egle of Naperville, manager of the Center for Student Assistance at the college, said the idea for a food bank was hatched months ago.

“We have had a food insecurity effort at the college for the past two or three years in the form of food baskets that we had at all of our campuses,” Egle said. “About six to nine months ago, the idea of a much-needed food pantry was pushed forward after our top leadership had a forum with some students.”

The program is being supported by raised gardens manned by groups at the college, including the science club, where some members “worked with our campus operations office to actually start a student garden club with the whole purpose of growing vegetables that they would donate to our student food pantry to increase the healthy options.”

“(The science club) did it from start to finish. They thought about it, got the items they needed, they planted it and harvest it,” Egle said.

Currently, about six to eight students maintain the garden while another four student workers, along with Egle and a part-time administrative assistant, oversee the pantry.

Rudy Rosales of Aurora, a freshman at Waubonsee Community College, said the pantry “is a well-needed addition to campus.”

“The reception I’ve heard is positive, and it’s helpful having this,” he said. “No one has expressed any reluctance.”

David Sharos is a freelance reporter for The Beacon-News.