The fall term begins Monday at Miami Dade College, and students on one campus will be able to take advantage of a special program to make sure their basic needs are met before classes start.
The college's north campus is teaming up with Farm Share, a nonprofit in Homestead that provides food to the needy, to give students free produce. The school also has a food pantry on campus where students can pick up non-perishable food items.
Campus President Malou Harrison says many of their students could use a little extra help. A survey of enrolled students finds that nearly 70 percent of MDC students have a low income, while 45 percent live below the federal poverty threshold.
“When you take that into consideration, we believe that this is truly a necessity that we provide a student food pantry on campus consistently throughout the year and that we have these food distribution opportunities several times a year,” said Harrison.
The food pantry opened about two years ago. It’s stocked through donations by faculty and staff, and student volunteers work there.