From KPCC News: Thousands of California university students are seeking help each month
from food banks and free meal programs as higher tuition and living
costs squeeze their meager budgets... A biannual UC survey suggests the scale of the problem: from 2010 to
2014, roughly 50 percent of students said they skipped meals to save
money “occasionally” to “very often.” And at UCLA, officials distributed
in the last academic year some 3,884 meal vouchers for students in dire
circumstances facing a food shortage. In 2012-2013, it gave out 7,562,
and 4,652 the year before that. UC Irvine has budgeted for fewer than
100 in the first year of its voucher program. Food pantries for students are now open on most UC campuses, in part
because of an effort started by President Janet Napolitano to help solve
global and local hunger...
Napolitano's office said the tuition increase (proposed last fall) wouldn’t make student
hunger worse because she wants to maintain or increase the amount of
financial aid students receive now...
Five years ago, Methodist Church deacon Jeanne Roe Smith teamed up with students and UCLA administrators to start the 580 Café in a converted church office located across the street from UCLA. It is one of oldest programs created to address college student hunger in the area. The cafe stocks a refrigerator and shelves with donated granola bars,
ramen, and prepared meals from nearby food businesses — and it serves
free, hot meals...
Word-of-mouth is how students learn about UCLA’s Food Closet. It’s a
room with barely enough room for what’s inside: a refrigerator, a tall
metal cabinet, and a small table...“In the mornings, we definitely fill up for breakfast so it's
oatmeal, pastries — we even have a woman who calls herself the Bagel
Mom, and she brings donated foods,” said Dennis Santiago, a UCLA
employee who coordinates the donations for the Food Closet. Santiago estimates thousands of students stop by the Food Closet each
week. He said he's seen more students come by for food in recent
years...
Full story at http://www.scpr.org/news/2015/03/09/50221/as-california-university-costs-rise-college-studen/
Also: http://uclafund.ucla.edu/yourimpact/giftsatwork/food-closet.aspx and http://dailybruin.com/2011/11/17/580_cafe_offers_struggling_students_free_food_develops_community/
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