The MSU Student Food Bank has long been a source of comfort—a place where students find not just help with hunger but also support from other students, right in their own community.
So, it is little wonder that hundreds turned to the food bank after the COVID-19 pandemic upended their lives and caused uncertainty, panic and food insecurity.
Our Spartan community rallied. Annual gifts to the Food Bank totaled $146,037 this year, and nearly a quarter of them were made in the critical weeks following the onset of COVID-19. Contributions of time and resources from across campus and throughout the Spartan community resulted in serving more than 750 MSU students and families and an additional 150 community members in local shelters, on a single weekend in March.
Ongoing support allowed the food bank to continue serving nearly 40 students and their families daily.
“This was all about what it means to act as a community and a Spartan,” said Dennis Martell, director of health promotion in the division of Student Health and Wellness at Olin Health Center. “Giving assurance to those that may not have come out all week, that their community cared, meant as much to some as the resources.”
I and SCC chose to leave our legacy by supporting the MSU Student Food Bank since the pandemic disrupted life for those in need—especially in regard to food supply—and we were in a position to help.