Now that the term is winding down, you might be trying to eat up what’s left in your kitchen so you don’t have to empty the fridge on move-out day. Maybe it’s that giant bag of rice you thought you’d finish or that box of frozen food that was on sale at Costco. If you’re in that situation, consider yourself lucky. For some students, the ending of the term means draining the last few cents out of the bank account and in some cases there is not enough left for food. In most cases, however, this problem occurs throughout the year.
We all know that tuition is high, and student hunger is one of those issues that goes very easily unnoticed. Unfortunately, the fact that we have a food bank on campus also goes unnoticed. I certainly didn’t know about it until getting lost looking for the frosh leader lounge, and apparently I’m not the only one. Unassumingly located in the SLC 2108, about 200 volunteers keep the UW FEDS Food Bank open from 8:30am-8:30pm on weekdays every term. You might think that the end of term is when the most students know about it and use it the most, but it’s actually at the beginning of term when the Food Bank gets the most visits. After that, traffic is fairly constant. It serves 50-60 students per term, but would definitely be able to serve more. All you need is a valid WATCard to get up to 10 lb of food per visit. To donate, there are boxes in DC, in most UW residences, and at the Food Bank in the SLC.
The UW FEDS Food Bank is a FEDS service that partners with the Waterloo Region Food Bank. It receives FEDS funding for a couple of events, but, like any food bank, relies a lot on public donations. Through efforts like Halloween for Hunger, the food bank collects non-perishables from the community. If there isn’t enough stock, the Waterloo Region Food Bank fills the rest of the shelves and if the UW FEDS Food Bank has overstock, it gets donated back to Waterloo Region. More recently, the Food Bank has been trying to collaborate with clubs and student society events to tie in fundraising with tickets sales. This would not only raise money, but also awareness.
The truth is that not enough people know about the Food Bank, whether to use, donate, or volunteer. With a coordination team of student volunteers who won’t be here forever, they’re always looking for students to come forward with strong leadership and innovative ideas to strengthen the Food Bank’s campus presence. After December 3, volunteers will keep it open as much as possible, but there won’t be regular hours. Half of the battle of exams is having time to get out of the house when you’re not writing an exam, but a walk to the SLC after a library session to make a quick donation wouldn’t hurt.
So if you’ve got non-perishables lying around in your kitchen, instead of gorging on pasta with canned veggies or Chunky chili for 7 days straight, drop it off at the Food Bank in the SLC. Grocery stores may be starting their own food drives towards Christmas; take the hint and grab a few items off the shelf for those less fortunate right here at UW. Especially in the winter, students pinched for time, who don’t have a car to drive to groceries, might need the food bank to hold them over until there’s time to travel and stock up affordably. So while you’re trying to remember pages of equations, don’t forget about those less fortunate than you this season and take a study break to demonstrate some generosity.
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