Butler County Community College’s Pioneer Pantry program is stepping up to help make sure students have a happy holiday this Thanksgiving.

This fall, a record 83 low-income BC3 students registered with the college’s food security team to receive a Thanksgiving meal package. About 62 of those students have dependents, according to Juli Louttit, a member of the college’s food security team.

Without the meal package she received, Thanksgiving “would have been a hardship,” said a 39-year-old student from Crawford County who plans to spend the holiday with her husband, three children and brother-in-law.

The health care science student works 35 hours a week between two part-time jobs and hopes to become a registered nurse.

“We receive a small monthly amount in food stamps, but it is just enough to supplement meals,” she said. “Right now, it seems like so much of our money goes to food and making sure our children eat, so this is a huge help.”

Nearly 50% of Pennsylvania community college students come from families earning less than $30,000 a year and are considered to be of very low income, the Pennsylvania Commission for Community Colleges reported in 2022.

Food prices in August were 3.2% higher than in August 2024, according to the most recent information available from the U.S. Department of Agriculture.

“I have three growing girls at home,” a Jefferson County student with a husband and three daughters said. “There are things I purchased in the past every week that now I can’t. Everything has gone up in price and we are really feeling it.

“Whenever you are in college and not working, having different food options, that’s essential. You don’t have the extra income to go buy it at the store. Being provided the Thanksgiving meal as a student, I’m so thankful. It’s a huge blessing.”

The issuing of food stamps was delayed or their amounts reduced for six weeks this fall because of the federal government shutdown.

“Barriers can take you out real quick when it comes to some life-changing events,” said Jayme Steighner, a BC3 food security team member and facilitator of the state-funded KEYS program, which is designed to help students who receive cash assistance or food stamps pursue post-secondary education at a Pennsylvania community college.

In addition to the choice between a 12- to 13-pound turkey or a $20 gift card, the packages include corn, cranberry sauce, gravy, green beans, mashed potatoes, pumpkin quick bread and stuffing, according to Morgan Rizzardi, another BC3 food security team member.

“I want them to have a Thanksgiving where they can have whatever favorites they want,” a 32-year-old student and single mother of two from Armstrong County said. “I don’t want them to think I am stressing over putting food on the table.”

She added, without the meal package, she would have served, “just the basics. Maybe a small turkey. Not a whole lot.”

The formation of the college’s food security team followed the debut of BC3’s Pioneer Pantry in September 2019. The food bank was established as a result of 2018 student survey in which 38% of the 304 respondents indicated having low or very low food security.

Food insecurity, according to the U.S. Department of Agriculture, is having reduced quality, variety or desirability of diet.

In 2024, the Pioneer Pantry distributed 78 Thanksgiving meal packages.

BC3’s Thanksgiving meals were funded by $5,050 in gifts from private donors, according to Mikayla Moretti, another BC3 food security team member. Steighner said a $700 emergency grant from the Greater Pittsburgh Community Food Bank in response to the delay or reduction in food stamps was also used for the program.

St. Michael the Archangel Roman Catholic Church in Butler contributed 30 turkeys and Oak Hills Christian Church in Butler contributed canned green beans, stuffing and scalloped potatoes.

The Pioneer Pantry will also prepare 70 meal packages for the college’s monthlong winter break that will contain corn, green beans, fruit cocktail, pineapple, scalloped potatoes and a sugar cookie kit.

A Hoops for Hunger event will begin at 5:30 p.m. Dec. 12 in BC3’s Field House before the college’s men’s basketball team hosts Pennsylvania Highlands Community College. Fans are asked to bring nonperishable food items and household supplies for the Pioneer Pantry.

Bill Foley is coordinator of news and media content at Butler County Community College.