Student LunchBox Celebrates a Milestone of Great Partnerships to Combat Food Insecurity Among College Students
Summary
Store patrons donate canned foods, lightly used clothes, school supplies, hygiene products, and similar items. Then, in September 2021, a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity knocked on Student LunchBox’s door when SLB was invited to be a primary recipient at a weekly gleaning program at a local farmers’ market. SLB volunteers rescue fresh fruits, vegetables, bread, pastries, and other produce through this program, averaging 60 boxes or over 1000 pounds of food to be distributed to partner colleges weekly.Within a day of learning about this opportunity, SLB contacted numerous organizations to distribute the foods to and successfully established relations with the Associated Students, Inc. (ASI) Beach Pantry at California State University, Long Beach (CSULB), The Women’s Research and Resource Center (WRRC) at California State University Northridge (CSUN). “The leaders of these organizations went above and beyond, coordinating between each other to welcome us to the campus and keep the produce fresh in refrigeration so students may pick up the following days,” Mr. Nurijanyan explained.After a few deliveries to colleges accepting SLB’s distributions, promising relations and new partnerships were established. I envision SLB as an organization with multiple cargo vans reaching across Los Angeles County and beyond, replenishing college food pantry shelves daily, and rooting out the issue of food insecurity among college students once and for all,” Mr. Nurijanyan concludes.For more information about Student LunchBox, including how to make a donation or in-kind contribution, please visit: www.studentlunchbox.org.Source: studentlunchbox.orgContact: Karlen Nurijanyan310-955-1216Karlen@studentlunchbox.org