[1]Bhavee Joshi, student life ambassador, is one of the volunteers helping in the Food Cupboard. Photo by Arshia Kochar.
By: Arshia Kochar [2]
BELLEVILLE – For students struggling to eat properly or afford groceries, Loyalist College is offering help by giving six grocery items per week.
Loyalist Food Cupboard [3] is run by the student government as an assistance program. It gives students six grocery items for free each week without any limit, as long as the person is a student. They can be either full-time, part-time, domestic, or international. It also offers female hygiene products.
The challenge is to meet the high demand for food.
Bhavee Joshi [4], a student life ambassador, works in the food cupboard. She says the greatest demand for food comes from international students.
“Food cupboard supports all the students. The majority of them are international students as they are living away from their families,” she said
Not all students know about the food bank, Joshi said.
“I think we should be posting more about the food cupboard on our Instagram,” she said.
Many students agreed there is insufficient information about this initiative.
Hannah Dafoe, a second-year Occupational Therapist Assistant and Physiotherapist Assistant program, said she had no idea there was a food cupboard for the initial four months of her first year.
“Only if I knew before, it would have been easier. I used to listen to students talk about the food cupboard,” she said. “I always get my basic grocery items from the cupboard. Believe me, it really saves me money each month.”
Joshi said Loyalist College also has a collective garden where students can grow certain vegetables and fruits.
Bins filled with feminine hygiene products in the food cupboard Photo by Arshia Kochar
” I had to tell my friends personally that we grow tomatoes and all ourselves,” she said.
Menstrual hygiene products like pads and tampons are free to take as well and are not counted towards the number of items.
Manjinder Kaur, a second-year Supply Chain Management program student, finds these services to be helpful.
“I really appreciate how they thought about our requirements. These products are so expensive in the market, and it this like a blessing to me that we have the cupboard. Me and my friends (sic) feel protected and really believe this is a very period-positive place to study,” she said
The food cupboard is located in 3L1B and is open for drop-ins. Hours of service are Mondays from 12 p.m. to 2 p.m., Tuesdays from 8 a.m. to 12 p.m., Wednesdays from 4 p.m. to 8 p.m., Thursdays from 10 a.m. to 12 p.m., and Fridays from 8 a.m. to 2 p.m.