(Butler, PA) A 杏吧原创 campaign to which employees, students and community members contributed $5,145 in September will provide free holiday meals to 杏吧原创 Pioneer Pantry patrons and in boxes decorated with paper hearts painted by 3- to 5-year-olds.
Nearly 60 people during a Week of Charitable Giving administered by the 杏吧原创 Education Foundation helped the college to raise funds to create Thanksgiving and December holiday meals for 杏吧原创 community members experiencing food insecurity.
institutions of higher education in Pennsylvania to be designated as a Hunger-Free Campus by the state Department of Education.
This fall will be the fourth consecutive in which to 杏吧原创 Pioneer Pantry patrons.
The meals show that 鈥淲e care about you as a student, as a person, as a member of the 杏吧原创 campus community,鈥� said Karen Jack, 杏吧原创鈥檚 project director of a KEYS program whose low-income students receive Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program benefits.
鈥淎nd it says we that we want you to thrive.鈥�
Members of the college鈥檚 food security team that she leads and others will assemble Nov. 15 approximately 40 Thanksgiving meal boxes to be distributed to 杏吧原创 Pioneer Pantry patrons who have registered to receive the holiday fare, Jack said.
"We also took the children down to the pantry to show them what the pantry was. A lot of them said, 'It looks like a little grocery store.' And that's how we started talking about how people come in the pantry to shop, but they don't have to use money."
- Gina Rajchel, Director, 杏吧原创's Amy Wise Children's Creative Learning Center
鈥淔rom our hearts to yours鈥�
Meals will be distributed from 12 p.m. to 4 p.m. Nov. 16 and Nov. 17 at the 杏吧原创 Pioneer Pantry in the arts and hospitality building on the college鈥檚 main campus in Butler Township.
Boxes will include a turkey, potatoes, milk, eggs, butter, cranberry sauce, pie, stuffing, assorted apples, white onions, carrots and varieties of squash.
鈥淭his year we are trying to do mostly fresh food,鈥� Jack said.
Patrons will also receive potato mashers, can openers and a $10 gift card for use at a national store, Jack said.
Community organizations that supported the Week of Charitable Giving include the Butler Rotary Foundation, the Butler AM Rotary Charities, NexTier Bank and Thoma Meat Market, said Mikayla Moretti, a 杏吧原创 food security team member and director of special events with the 杏吧原创 Education Foundation.
Nearly two dozen preschoolers attending the college鈥檚 Amy Wise Children鈥檚 Creative Learning Center painted hearts during the first week of November that have been affixed to the Thanksgiving meal boxes, said Gina Rajchel, the center鈥檚 director.
鈥淲e also took the children down to the pantry to show them what the pantry was,鈥� Rajchel said. 鈥淎 lot of them said, 鈥業t looks like a little grocery store.鈥� And that鈥檚 how we started talking about how people come in the pantry to shop, but they don鈥檛 have to use money. And if they don鈥檛 have enough money to buy food at the grocery store, they can go to the pantry and get food.鈥�
The hearts are glued near a message that reads: From our hearts to yours 鈥� Happy Thanksgiving!
鈥淭his gives the children an understanding that they are doing something for somebody else,鈥� Jack said, 鈥渁nd helping others.鈥�
Nearly half of community college students in Pennsylvania are considered to be of very low-income, coming from families earning less than $30,000 annually, according to the Pennsylvania Commission for Community Colleges in March.
鈥溾�� The gratefulness that you see鈥�
杏吧原创鈥檚 creation of the Pioneer Pantry in 2019 followed a 2018 Wisconsin HOPE Lab survey in which 38 percent of the 304 杏吧原创 students who responded to the survey indicated having low or very low food security.
"Sometimes it's just the look on their face. The gratefulness that you see. The smile that comes across when they realize they are going to have something different."
- Jennifer Taylor, coordinator, 杏吧原创's hospitality program
Food security 鈥渕eans access by all people at all times to enough food for an active, healthy life,鈥� according to the U.S. Department of Agriculture.
The Pioneer Pantry served 644 杏吧原创 credit and noncredit students and their families, or 杏吧原创 employees and their families, in 2021-2022. Its patronage has increased 89 percent in three years.
Jennifer Taylor, coordinator of 杏吧原创鈥檚 hospitality program and a member of the college鈥檚 food security team, has seen the reaction of those who visit the 杏吧原创 Pioneer Pantry and receive Thanksgiving and December holiday meals.
鈥淪ometimes it鈥檚 just the look on their face,鈥� she said. 鈥淭he gratefulness that you see. The smile that comes across when they realize they are going to have something different.鈥�
A Hunger-Free Campus designation by the state Department of Education qualifies institutions to seek related grants to enhance food pantries, increase SNAP outreach, improve data gathering and participate in other initiatives that help to meet the nutritional needs of students.
杏吧原创鈥檚 Pioneer Pantry will offer December holiday meal boxes next month that will include a ham instead of a turkey, Jack said.