ANGELINA DOHRE
Special to the Leader
For the first time ever, a food pantry will be held for students during the last two weeks of the semester. The Health and Counseling Center staff have recently become aware of the growing amount of students that are struggling with food instability.
Director of the Student Health Center Deborah Dibble explained the reasoning behind this project.
“With the struggle to get food, students become more anxious, are unable to concentrate in school and overall suffer real symptoms of hypoglycemia and hunger,” she said. “This can lead to poor health outcomes and poor grades in school.
“As a health care provider and a member of the Fredonia community, this need is one that is becoming more and more apparent, as students sometimes struggle at the end of the semester with limited funds,” Dibble continued.
Dibble said the idea came from the Student Health Center staff, and she helped spread the word.
“I had shared [the idea] with the Counseling Center, Campus Life and Student Affairs administration, who all believed that it was great,” she said.
“We currently participate in DeStress for Success, offering healthy snacks during Dead Week and exam weeks,” she added. “These snacks are well-received, and we are often told that snacks are great when the students need a little help in the area of getting food during those two final weeks of the semester.”
Starting Dec. 1 through Dec. 14, the food pantry will be collecting donations at two different locations, one at the LoGrasso Hall vestibule from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. Monday through Friday and at the Williams Center from 5 p.m. to midnight every day of the week. Donations can also be picked up if they can’t be dropped off at one of these locations.
Contact Dibble at Deborah.dibble@fredonia.edu to arrange for someone to pick them up.
According to Dibble, this initiative is co-sponsored by the Student Health Center, the Counseling Center and Campus Life to help serve students in need.
The future of this project depends on the turnout it has over the next two weeks.
“If this program is a success, then it will be done at the end of each college semester,” Dibble said.