Alex Palmieri – News Writer
Receiving items from the mobile food pantry is always extremely helpful for students with slim income, said Alexandra Hill.
“They are so generous of how much they give,” said Hill, a senior liberal arts major with concentrations in science, creative writing and philosophy of religion. “They give you two full bags filled of groceries.”
Hill said she has been coming to the food pantry since it has started. After an email is sent to students notifying them what time the pantry will be at Southern, the students need to then fill out a form for the volunteers.
“You just give them the form, you sign in, and they give you whatever people have donated,” said Hill.
Hill lives in Hamden with two roommates, so she said this mobile food pantry is helpful to her. Since she tries to come to Southern each time the food pantry is on campus, Hill said she tries to take advantage of these opportunities as much as she could.
“They give you really good organic stuff like soup and frozen meats,” said Hill. “I still have food from like two weeks ago that is still in our freezer.”
Robert Carl, a volunteer from the Cornerstone Christian Community Church in Milford, said they make a stop at Southern twice a month. He said the church bought him to Southern because they conduct a mobile pantry drive. He along with other volunteers will fill up the truck with any food they have at the church, and distribute it to specific destinations to help people out as much as they can.
“We pass it [the food] out to students or whoever wants it,” said Carl. “All they have to do is fill out a form and that’s all.”
Sandra Raffington, another volunteer from the church, said she wants to distribute the food to the students and faculty who are on campus. She said for the students who are deciding whether to buy books or food, the volunteers try their best to take care of the food.
“We started well over a year ago,” said Raffington. “We started winter of last year, I think February. It was very good back then. Since this month, the word is getting out and they have been coming.”
Food is one of the most beneficial items students can receive, especially if they live on campus. When the mobile food pantry comes to the university, a mass email is sent out to all students to notify them. Students should be mindful to attempt receive food for their dorms or houses.
Lisa Watts, another volunteer, said they came to Southern to hand out food to all faculty and staff that may need it. She said she knows students have a lot of obligations, so they wanted to give everyone a hand to lower their expenses.
“We also go to housing projects throughout New Haven,” said Watts. “We’re here for an hour and a half and have been getting a nice amount of students.”
Photo Credit: Alex Palmieri – News Writer