Bay College Student Food Pantry Receives Support

News

Each year, the Bay College Student Food Pantry receives donations from community organizations in order to continue supporting the pantry’s efforts. These efforts help to provide students with an alternative resource to fulfil their basic needs. Recently, the Community Foundation for Delta County awarded a pro-active grant to the Bay College Student Food Pantry for $1,000.00. This donation was provided to help with the food shortage among our student population.

The Bay College Student Food Pantry has been in operation since November of 2017 and has partnerships with Feeding America of Western Michigan and our local ALDI’s Store #41. However, in order to keep the pantry stocked for the student community, monetary and food donations from other sources are welcomed. “Grants like this give us the ability to continue to meet the food insecurities our students face daily,” stated Tina Jensen, Bay College TRIO and Student Food Pantry coordinator.

In 2020, the food pantry serviced over 770 visits and distributed more than 4,200 pounds of food to the students and their families at Bay College. “Even with the closure during the pandemic, we knew more than ever we needed to make our pantry available to our students.  We needed to provide them and their families with this basic need of food. The pantry moved quickly to an online only order system,” states Jensen, “we set up a no contact pickup and continued providing food to our students and their families. For some, they were in sheer survival mode and we were there to help.”

To learn more about Bay College’s TRIO program or the Student Food Pantry, visit the Bay College website, Email TRIO, or call 906-217-4133.

Top