University of Guelph’s food bank is in grave danger of having to close its doors before the end of the school year, said the food bank’s co-ordinator, Tucker Gordon.
Gordon has been working as the co-ordinator for three years.
“My motivation for volunteering was because I knew that my fellow peers on campus simply could not afford to pay tuition and still have enough money to eat,” she said. “Many of the staff that volunteer at the food bank have found themselves in the same boat. It’s about students helping students.”
In January 2009 alone, over 200 students accessed the food bank’s services. “Out of 20,000 people on campus, a little more than 1 per cent came through the food bank’s doors,” Gordon said.
While U of G provides the location for the food bank and pays for the facility’s bills, the food bank is required to purchase its own food. This has proven to be a struggle, especially in the last few months.
“Last year we had to close the food bank a month before school ended,” Gordon said. “But this year the situation is much worse. We had to dip into our reserve fund money, which is supposed to be used for other necessities, like a new freezer.”
The majority of the food bank’s funding comes from the $1.50 included in undergraduate tuition fees. The amount of money devoted to the food bank is decided on by a yearly referendum by the students.
“I feel like it’s a complete necessity for students to help out fellow students, and if a buck-fifty will do the trick then I am more than willing,” said Shannon Van Strallen, a second-year student at the university.
Until this past school year, undergraduate students were the only students on campus whose tuition fees included a small donation to the food bank. In the upcoming school year the graduate students will also vote on a referendum to devote a small portion of their tuition to sustaining the food bank.
Arden Hagedorn, the local affairs commissioner of the university’s Central Student Association, said that until now, graduate students have been using a great deal of the food bank’s resources, but haven’t yet contributed to keeping it open.
“I think they will be more than willing to make a contribution,” she said, “Unfortunately, there’s not a lot of time for sufficient fundraising, but I think everyone’s doing their part.”
The food bank has several upcoming fundraisers, including a silent auction, and an event at the campus bar called “Feed the Beat,” which is in collaboration with the meal exchange program also available on campus.
“It’s vital that students have year-round access to the food bank,” Hagedorn said.
“And Guelph U students realize that. Everybody is doing their part to make sure we can keep our doors open,” she said.