Campus food pantry to open this fall

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Students in need of basic food staples will soon have a place to go shopping right on campus at the free Essex County College Food Pantry. The pantry, housed on the College’s Newark campus, is expected to be ready to distribute non-perishable food to students during the Fall 2015 Semester.

“Many of our students are single parents with young children at home” who are struggled to make ends meet while also attending class, said Essex President Dr. Gale E. Gibson. She added that there are other students as well who don’t always get the proper nutrition before heading to school.

“You can’t study when hungry and this wonderful initiative shows our commitment to the health of our students as well as their families,” said Dr. Gibson. She spearheaded the idea of a campus food pantry which will begin operation under the direction of the College’s WISE Women’s Center, in collaboration with Essex’s Single Stop office, this September.

By, in part, removing one potential daily worry students may have, the Food Pantry also meets the College’s Number One Strategic Direction: “Student Success & Completion,” said Dr. Gibson.

“I want in particular to thank the Women’s Center and Charlotte Attenborough (Assistant Dean for Community Affairs and Recruiting) for embracing this project,” said Dr. Gibson.