TAMAQUA, Pa. — Students at Lehigh Carbon Community College’s site in Tamaqua transformed an empty classroom closet into a food pantry.
Thanks to a state grant, the students are debuting the Cougar Cabinet at the Tamaqua campus to help their fellow students and staff who may struggle with food insecurity.
“I was very surprised we had some name brand food because a lot of the times you don't see that kind of name brand food when you go to a food pantry, so it's very nice for students to see,” Mya Heffner said.
By partnering with the Helping Harvest Food Bank, qualifying students and staff can find food to take home with them.
This is one of Tamaqua LCCC’s first steps to combat the stigmas that come with food insecurity.
“Grocery prices are insane for all of us. We're all feeling the hit when we go into the grocery store. So, we're hoping by having these options available, we're helping students, faculty, staff, any members of our community to just benefit from the program,” explained Amber Zuber, site educational services director.
Because pandemic-era SNAP benefits ended this month, the staff at the Tamaqua site of the Lehigh Carbon Community College says that this is the perfect time to open the Cougar Cabinet.
“We understand that if they have been receiving SNAP benefits, and those funds are now ending, that their education could be at risk if they can't afford to make ends meet. We don't want them to sacrifice their educational investments,” added Zuber.
As a full-time student herself, Heffner says a food pantry like this can play a big role when paying for college.
“I still have to pay like $400 sometimes for books. So having this food pantry as free can be really nice since you are already spending so much money on books for things that you need to succeed in school. And food should be one of those things you need to succeed,” she said.
The Cougar Cabinet is open Monday through Friday for students and staff at the Lehigh Carbon Community College Campus in Tamaqua.
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