COLUMBUS, Ohio — Colleges and universities in Ohio are exploring ways to respond to hunger on campus and break down barriers to student success.

Melissa Gilbert is associate dean of Experimental Learning with The Promise House at Otterbein University, just one of roughly a dozen food pantries on Ohio college campuses. She explained college hunger highlights the broader issue of food justice.

"Our hope is that we never need a pantry again. And we need to find a solution to that,” Gilbert said. “Pantries are a Band-Aid approach but they're a necessity, and we've got to have something to make sure nobody shows up to class hungry or is studying for an exam and hasn't eaten in 24 hours."

Solutions include increased access to food stamps for college students, as well as ensuring every student has a meal plan.

At the Commodore Cupboard at Lorain County Community College, coordinator Sarah Hyde Pinner said reducing stigma is also key. And their Champions Program trains students and staff on food insecurity.

“What they can do, how this is actionable; how a faculty member could make a strong referral in a way that respects the dignity of all of the folks who are in this situation,” Hyde said.

Colleges and universities around Ohio are fighting student hunger with food drives, community gardens, and fundraisers. Some also recover unused food from cafeterias and private events to be donated elsewhere, or offer end of semester meal plan swaps so students can donate unused meal credits to others.

Stacey Rusterholz, assistant director for Community Engagement with The Promise House, said they also offer peer advocacy, volunteer opportunities and educational workshops. And they connect students to community financial supports, mental health counseling and clothing.

"The goal is to help students be successful and be able to graduate college, because finances are one the things that cause students to drop out,” Rusterholz said. “So just having a center that's inclusive and welcoming is really important to helping our students be successful and to graduate. "

The Commodore Cupboard offers similar services and partners with the Women's Link program, which connects students to housing services, legal aid, childcare and emergency loans. Marisa Vernon White, associate provost at Lorain County Community College, said the programs will join in the fall to better serve students.

"They may say that they're going to access that service but then feel embarrassed about doing so, or struggle to find the time to do so,” White said. “So by putting those two things under the same roof, it's really going to allow us to look at their situation much more holistically and line them up with some other things that they may not have considered."

She added their work doesn't go unnoticed, as some students who have utilized the food pantry have returned after graduation and paid it forward through donations.

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Congress is back in session two more weeks before the August recess. Wisconsin voices worried about the future of a key hunger relief program hope lawmakers protect its funding with a deadline looming.

The Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program - or SNAP - falls under the Farm Bill, which needs to be reauthorized by the end of September.

House Republicans have blocked efforts to maintain White House authority to make non-inflation adjustments to SNAP benefits - a move President Joe Biden made in 2021 when he carried out a record increase.

Meghan Roh, program director of the group Opportunity Wisconsin, said not having that option would put recipients at a disadvantage.

"SNAP benefits help over 700,000 Wisconsinites afford food, which is one in eight people in our state," said Roh. "And so, gutting this assistance would mean that these families have to make difficult choices."

The Congressional Budget Office says removing the provision would limit the scope of future SNAP increases by $30 billion. Advocates say that amounts to a large cut.

Wisconsin U.S. Rep. Derrick Van Orden, R-Prairie du Chien, was called out for a recent committee vote to keep the option shelved.

In a social media post, he accused Democrats of lying when saying the panel was cutting benefits.

Other Republicans say their approach protects SNAP in the event a future GOP president would want to unilaterally reduce benefits.

But Suzanne Becker, executive director of the Feed My People Food Bank in Eau Claire, said politics shouldn't come into play. She argued that elevating SNAP levels as much as possible is a wise move.

"We can never replace the impact that SNAP has on our neighbors," said Becker. "Nonprofits can't do that. We make a difference every day. We strive to, but this is a critical piece in making sure that all Americans have what they need."

Becker said the debate comes as her location sees a lot of demand among working families. Her team works with income-eligible clients to sign up for SNAP benefits, noting that it's a lifeline for older populations.

Some North Dakota leaders believe healthy food is part of what is needed to help all kids achieve better outcomes and they hope low-income families sign up for new summer food assistance to keep their children on track.

State officials say eligible households have until Aug. 30 to apply for help buying groceries for kids while they are on break. North Dakota is one of many states to accept federal funding through the Summer Electronic Benefits Transfer program. Families receive a card with $120 on it for each eligible child, to spend on food.

Jared Slinde, communications manager for the Great Plains Food Bank, said there has always been concern about the "summer slide," and some kids also saw their learning suffer during the pandemic.

"Kids fell off track during COVID," Slinde observed. "Maybe they didn't have the best resources, which was certainly understandable. (The) Summer EBT program can help alleviate certain struggles that kids might have."

He explained staying nourished over the summer can help put them in a better position to learn once school starts and hopefully see their test scores rebound. Kids already receiving free or reduced-priced meals during the school year were automatically enrolled in Summer EBT but officials said more children may still qualify, and their parents are encouraged to sign up.

Slinde noted there are other programs, including ones offered by Great Plains Food Bank, helping families get food over the summer. He acknowledged things like transportation barriers might prevent some from getting to the sites distributing meals. The Summer EBT option could allow them to buy groceries from a neighborhood store.

"Our mission here is to end hunger together," Slinde stressed. "Any time we can have a number of different moving parts providing food assistance, we're going to be all for this."

He added they continue to see heightened demand overall for food assistance across North Dakota. So far, 32,000 North Dakota kids have been enrolled in the summer program.


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Food Bank of Northwest Indiana is facing a surge in demand for food assistance, despite the end of the pandemic.

The facility serves about 60,000 people monthly in Lake and Porter Counties.

Victor Garcia, the operation's CEO, said food banks operate differently from food pantries and soup kitchens. Food banks source food through donations, government programs and bulk purchases to supply local agencies.

"If you think of that food pantry at your local house of worship as a grocery store, and you think of a soup kitchen as a restaurant, our core business as food banks is to be the supplier to those agency partners," Garcia explained.

Garcia pointed out before the pandemic, the food bank conducted two mobile distributions weekly, serving about 4,000 people a month. During the pandemic, this spiked to six distributions weekly, serving 14,000 people.

According to the nonprofit group Feeding Indiana's Hungry, one in seven Hoosiers is food insecure. The group also reported the hunger rate for children in Indiana is even higher at one in five or worse in 38 of Indiana's 92 counties.

Garcia noted to meet demand, his facility currently maintains five distributions each week and serves about 12,000 people each month.

"The increased cost of product is creating significant impacts," Garcia stressed. "While we're looking for donated food as much as possible, we are buying more food than we ever have as a network to meet the increase in demand."

The food bank relies heavily on community donations and volunteer efforts. Garcia emphasized every dollar donated provides three meals, and volunteers are essential, with 7,200 individuals having volunteered last year alone.


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