Food pantry to add perishable items with new refrigerator, thanks to SUNY grant

Within a matter of a few weeks, Fredonia students will be able to pick up dairy products, fruit juice and other perishable items through the campus food pantry, thanks to an $800 SUNY grant funding the purchase of two refrigerators.

“The grant expands our ability to now offer perishable foods, like milk, eggs, butter and juices – things that need to be refrigerated,” said Student Health Center Director Deborah Dibble. The grant program is designed to expand campus resources to combat food insecurity.

With refrigerators, the pantry can stock food items that have greater nutritional value. “We did not have the ability to give away perishable food before,” added Ms. Dibble, food pantry coordinator. Fresh fruit and vegetables may also be added, based on student interest.

In announcing the first round of grants, which were awarded to several SUNY units, Chancellor Jim Malatras noted, “Today’s grants are a result of passionate advocacy by our student leaders who called for refrigeration at campus food pantries so that all students have access to high quality meals. Hunger has no place on our campuses, and we must do everything we can to eliminate it so that students can focus on their studies. Our mission at SUNY is to make that decision easier by supporting our students with sustainable food options with the hope that one day our food pantries won’t be necessary. Until that day happens, we will make our food pantries as robust as possible, and with a little bit of funding, we are able to do so.”

One refrigerator will be located in the food pantry in the Student Health Center in LoGrasso Hall, the other in the new FREDWell Lounge in the Williams Center. Placing a refrigerator in the lounge will help make perishable food accessible to more students, Dibble noted.

The Student Health Center’s food pantry is open, by appointment only, Monday through Friday, from 8 a.m. to 4:30 p.m., via email  Appointments are not required pick up food at the FREDWell Lounge.

Food pantry items are free to all students.

Dibble also noted the return of donated items, such as bread, muffins, cookies and canned goods, from the Clarence Community Food Pantry on Wednesdays, from 11:30 a.m. until there is no food left, at the Williams Center information desk.