Some students remain food insecure as people are panic buying food at supermarkets to prepare for self-quarantine for the COVID-19 virus.
Before the campus closure, Pierce provided food-related resources for its students and even with the closure, some of these resources are still available.
Students Against Student Hunger (St.A.S.H.) will continue to provide meals to students who need assistance.
St.A.S.H. is a student-run ASO club that collects donated food on campus to give to students who identify as food insecure.
The United States Department of Agriculture defines food insecurity as “a lack of consistent access to enough food for an active, healthy life.”
Professor Christopher Lay, the St.A.S.H. club advisor, said the club moves about 100 pounds of food a month for those with food insecurities.
“A lot of students struggle to make ends meet and make sufficient money to feed themselves,” Lay said. “This gets in the way of their education and the food pantry helps with that.”
With the current COVID-19 situation and the closure of the campus to the general public, there are many questions about how these resources and students will be affected.
St.A.S.H., which is usually open Mondays from 9:30-11 a.m. and Tuesdays and Thursdays from 12:50-1:45 p.m., is still available to students.
In addition to these hours, they will be providing bags of food on Wednesdays from 12-1 p.m. from now until mid-April.
Students with further questions can email St.A.S.H. at [email protected] and Lay at [email protected].
As of March 18, the college campus cafeteria is also closed until March 28, unless its opening is delayed further.
