Yvette Aghassi

Staff Writer | [email protected]

It is impossible to miss a single note of energy in the RISE room when one walks in.

The woman behind the front desk is energetically chatting with a student who is toying with a faint smile on the corner of his lips. Walls are literally covered from corner to corner with pictures of Wall of Fame pupils or of vibrant pieces of art and text. Some students are busy buzzing in a corner while others are diligently at work behind computers.

The pictures on the Wall of Fame are also make up the Wall of Inspiration. Each picture is a picture of a student who was accepted to the university of his or her choice. City College student and RISE member Brenda is beaming in a photo. She recently received her acceptance from St. John’s University in New York. Another photo features Jackie, a former student who is now at UC Davis, but still volunteers at the RISE center. She has been a part of the program since the years of the RISE outreach program at her high school.

The students appear to be a tight-knit group of family and friends who share a safe, exclusive space. Valerie Lockhart, student personnel assistant for RISE, says that is exactly what RISE aims to be.

“We are a family here,” Lockhart says. “Everyone knows each other’s goals and why they are here. You find students asking how another did on a test or what they got on a paper. It gives students a place to go where there is a sense of community.”

On March 16, RISE celebrated the one-year anniversary of its food distribution program. Through helping the students of RISE, Nyla Vaivai, noticed that in addition to the lack of educational tools and resources necessary to be successful students, some students were coming to school hungry. They were coming from home environments where even the basic necessities of food were not easily available. Vaivai then set up a partnership between the Sacramento Food Bank and City College.

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In the spring of 2016, RISE and Sacramento Food Bank provided food for over 9,000 City College students and their families. Last week, over 10,000 pounds of food was distributed on campus for free.

Food is donated through local farmers from Stockton to Lodi, as well as grocery chains Raley’s, Wal-Mart and SaveMart. The donated food is what Vaivai says the distributors describe as “the ugly food” but is otherwise perfectly fresh and edible.

RISE, which stands for Respect, Integrity, Self-determination and Education, first started in 1999 when City College counselors Keith Muraki and Juan LaChica noticed there were students who weren’t afforded the same privileges, opportunities or resources available to others on campus. They noticed that the students without those crucial resources found themselves on academic probation or dismissal.

RISE created a safe and fun space where students could go for counseling services and tutoring, use of the computers or printing services. RISE even has a book-lending program where students can rent two books a semester.

Although RISE operates the food give-away program, all students on campus may participate. Students must sign up in room T05 in Temporary Building 5, provide a student ID card and currently be enrolled in classes at City College. Students indicate how many people they will be providing for and the food bank then uses that information to provide the amount of food necessary to cover all those that sign up.

Food pick-up is every Wednesday from noon – 5 p.m. or until food runs out.

More about the RISE program and food give-away can be found at http://www.scc.losrios.edu/rise/