The City College Campus Intervention Office and the Basic Needs program have again collaborated with the Sacramento Food Bank to host a drive-up food distribution Monday, Jan. 25, for current students from 2-4 p.m.
Students need to sign up for a pick-up window and will receive an email confirmation containing instructions to safely receive their food box, according to Andre Coleman, dean of campus interventions. Availability will be based on a first-come, first-served basis. Tables will be set up along the east side of the campus at Hughes Stadium.
As of Jan. 21, there were still several slots open during the second hour of the food distribution, Coleman said.
According to Coleman, his office has arranged for monthly food distributions on campus through the remainder of the academic year.
“We’re back at it again, thank goodness. We are so fortunate,” said Coleman. “Sac Food Bank has been so incredible. It’s great to have them partner with us like this. They’ve been attentive to our student population and make sure we have something to offer our students in a safe way.”
For November and December food distributions, the college had 600 available boxes. In some cases this left Coleman and volunteers with more boxes than needed toward the end of the day. According to Coleman, the intervention office was still trying to determine the right number of food boxes to meet the needs of students who made their way to campus.
“Five hundred feels like right around the right number for us. We know we have a lot of students on public transit. Having a distribution with a very specific window [when] people aren’t coming to campus already makes it a little harder,” said Coleman. “Our numbers were almost doubled when people were already on-ground. It doesn’t meet the true needs of our students, but it does meet the true needs of the students who are able to get to campus and aren’t struggling with not being able to get off work or having transportation issues.”
Each box is stocked to feed a family of four. Coleman said some families could benefit from a box that might stretch further than that.
“We’d like to make it last maybe one or two meals. Can’t complain about it, but we know some of these houses support more than four,” Coleman said. “If we can secure the resources, we’d like to make a more substantive box. We’re trying to secure some more resources so we can add more to that box to make it cover more meals.”
Coleman said that he and the volunteers—made up of City College administrators, faculty and staff who distribute the food—don’t yet know what items will be in the boxes.
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Coleman said he’s been trying to figure out what sorts of decorations he might use this month. In the few food distributions the campus has hosted since shutting down last March, he’s made a point of making the food distribution more festive and fun with balloons put out to signal incoming students.
“We had a few things [at the food pickup in December] that we gave away to kids in the cars. We had some reindeer antler hats and stuff like that. It went over so well. We’re going to do some more of that. It’s great seeing the little kids getting excited,” he said.
“I think the volunteers love it because of the excitement and the appreciation that the students have. Plus, it’s nice to see the students,” continued Coleman. “I think it’s really nice for people to get out of the house and do something and see colleagues that they really don’t get to see and have human interactions.”
Coleman said his primary goal is to try to remove some of the stigma of signing up to receive a food box. He also said that, when students were on-ground picking up weekly food, volunteers from CalFresh, California’s food stamps program, were able to more readily interact with a greater number of students who could benefit from such a resource.
“I’m struggling with that. We all need a little extra help. Many people are one late paycheck or one extreme bill, one car accident from being in real financial struggles,” he said.
“If we were on-ground, our student volunteers with CalFresh would be talking to students [to sign them] up for CalFresh. They changed some of the requirements. Now, some of the exceptions are being a part of CalWorks, Puente, and just being part of these groups gives you access to CalFresh. We want to get more students signed up for that program. As a state, we don’t use all of our CalFresh money, which is a dal-gum shame.”
Coleman often gives some students a chance to sign up for a pickup time a little early. He said he extends that offer to those who’ve taken advantage of previous food banks at City College. An announcement went to all registered students Wednesday, Jan. 20.
“I try to give the people who’ve signed up before like a 24-hour head start to get to the sign-up, so I sent out an announcement to them on Tuesday. They’ve indicated that they have a need,” he said. “We should be good. We’ve had people on the waitlist every time that we’ve done it, and we’ve been able to service everyone. That feels good.”
Click below to view the sign up sheet and to choose a window of time to pick up a food box:
https://www.signupgenius.com/go/4090F4FADAB2EA3FA7-december
