New pantry at BC3 aims to fight food insecurity
BUTLER TWP — Her stomach growled, evoking fears it would divulge to classmates she hadn't eaten in two days.
Academics weren't on her mind. Only her hunger.
Hunger and “whenever I would have enough money to go buy something to eat,” the college student said of her struggle with food insecurity.
The new Pioneer Pantry at Butler County Community College aims to help students facing food insecurity, whether enrolled full time or part time, attending credit or noncredit programs.
In a county where an estimated 10.4 percent of its residents are food insecure, the Pioneer Pantry in Room 100 of the Arts and Hospitality building on BC3's main campus provides Alliance for Nonprofit Resources-distributed food monthly to income-eligible BC3 students living in Butler County.
The pantry will also provide food collected through drives, drop boxes or purchased with financial gifts to all BC3 students, faculty or staff members, regardless of income or county of residence.
Another BC3 student who has gone to class hungry said the food pantry “is going to be extremely helpful for students because I know some of them go to class and they haven't eaten.”
According to the U.S. Department of Agriculture, food insecurity is having reduced quality, variety or desirability of diet. A U.S. Government Accountability Office report in December reflected 31 independent studies, 22 of which suggested food insecurity could affect more than 30 percent of college students.
Between 19 percent and 44 percent of 6,222 students from 14 Western Pennsylvania colleges or universities and their branch campuses reported moderate to high food insecurity in responding to a 2018 Greater Pittsburgh Community Food Bank Campus Cupboard survey. Of the 304 BC3 students who answered a 2018 Wisconsin HOPE Lab survey, 38 percent indicated having low or very low food security.
Food insecurity caused 14 percent of survey respondents to drop a class, 26 percent to miss a class, 33 percent to miss a study session, and 59 percent said their academic performance suffered.
“If it is long-term food insecurity, there is a chance that someone is not going to be able to perform well, or function well,” said Kevin Boozel, a 1991 BC3 graduate and Butler County commissioner.
In Butler County, an estimated 10.4 percent of its 186,000 residents were food insecure in April 2016, according to a Greater Pittsburgh Community Food Bank report.
Karen Jack, director of BC3's Keystone Education Yields Success project and one of seven administrators and faculty members on the first Pioneer Pantry Food Security Team, said the food pantry will be open semimonthly.
In addition to Alliance for Nonprofit Resources food, and food collected through drives, drop boxes or purchases, BC3 also offers a grab-and-go station near the Keystone Education Yields Success office in the Student Success Center that is available to all students.
William Foley is coordinator of news and media content at Butler County Community College.
WHAT: A semimonthly food pantry aimed at helping BC3 students facing food insecurity.WHERE: Room 100, Arts & Hospitality Building, main campus. Students seeking confidentiality can use parking lot 6.WHEN: 10 a.m. to noon, Sept. 16, Oct. 14, Nov. 11 and Dec. 9; and 12:30-2:30 p.m., Sept. 12, Oct. 10, Nov. 7 and Dec. 5.CONTACT:For more information or to register, visit bc3.edu/pioneer-pantry. Questions can also be emailed to foodpantry@bc3.edu.HOW TO HELP: Pioneer Pantry drop boxes are in the Student Success Center, in the Administration, Business & Health Professions, and Science & Technology buildings, and in Room 103 of BC3's Arts & Hospitality building.
