Bay College Student Food Pantry Receives Support from Local Realtors

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Photo Caption: Pictured left to right: Samantha Skorupski, Coldwell Banker-Schmidt; Rick Curtis, Key Realty; Judith Owens, State Wide Real Estate; Tina Jensen, Bay College TRIO and Student Food Pantry Coordinator; Christopher Germain, Premier Real Estate and, Lori Rymkos, Premier Real Estate.

This year, Bay College’s Food Pantry was the recipient of a special gift, thanks to the generosity of local realtors. Each year the Delta County Multi List Service (MLS) Committee collects money at their annual Christmas gathering and chooses local groups to support. Bay College Student Food Pantry was one of three pantries within Delta County that received a donation from the MLS group.

“With not being able to gather this year we still wanted to support our community,” stated Wendy Holzenkamp of Coldwell Banker-Schmidt Realtors and President of Delta County MLS. “We decided to donate it to our local food pantries. We wanted to support the county that supports us!” stated Holzenkamp.  

Delta County MLS is made up of seven local real estate offices; Key Realty Delta County, State Wide Real Estate, Coldwell Banker Schmidt Realtors, Great Lakes Commercial Real Estate, Keller Williams Realty UP, Premier Real Estate, and UP Realty. 

In 2020, Bay College Student Food Pantry dispensed over 4,200 pounds of food to the students and their families at Bay College. The pantry experienced an increase in usage in March when the pandemic restrictions were put into place. “We quickly moved to an online order and touch-less pick up to help service our students,” stated Tina Jensen, Bay College TRIO Program and Student Food Pantry Coordinator.   

The Bay College Student Food Pantry has been in operation since November of 2017 in partnership 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. Jensen said, “We are so thankful for groups and organizations that help us to meet the food insecurities of our students.”

To learn more about Bay College’s Student Food Pantry, Email the Bay%20College%20TRIO%20department or call 906-217-4133.