The Edmonds College Food Pantry has recently moved locations on campus.

It’s hard to learn on an empty stomach. This is why the Food Pantry is an essential resource on campus. The Food Pantry provides relief to students in the form of food to fill their pantries. This allows students to not have to worry about where they are getting their next meal from. Instead, they can focus on getting an A on their next test.

As of Jan. 28, the Food Pantry moved from Brier Hall to the Olympic building. This move has allowed for the Food Pantry to have more space to better serve the students and employees at Edmonds College. The Food Pantry is a vital resource for any financially insecure students that may need it.

“I want to ensure that students don’t go hungry,” Stewart Sinning, the Program Manager of the Food Pantry, said. “This is a safe, welcoming place.”

The pantry provides a variety of foods such as canned meats and vegetables, soups, and other shelf stable items to the community. This service is vital to financially insecure students because it helps relieve the pressure of worrying about their next meal. This in turn, helps the students at Edmonds College to focus on their studies rather than focusing on basic survival needs.

“Our students come from everywhere,” Sinning said. “We try and provide nutritional foods that fits all the students needs.”

In a questionnaire sent out in 2018, it was determined that 39% of students on campus experience food insecurity. Over a hundred students visit the Food Pantry each week with 66,000 pounds of food being distributed over the last year. Since the Food Pantry opened in 2018, it has helped over 10,000 students.

In addition to providing the students with this service, the Food Pantry has had to navigate the difficulties of the pandemic. After the start of the pandemic, the amount of food needed went up drastically. Along with this, the Food Pantry has taken every precaution to ensure the safety of the community. They have taken precautions such as requiring masks, limiting the number of people that can be in the building at once, and wiping down all surfaces frequently.

The Food Pantry can always use some support from the community. There are several ways to help out. The first way is to donate. To donate food, you can drop off your donations during Food Pantry hours. The Food pantry accepts non-perishable, non-expired food items as well as a variety of other items such as baby food and other baby items, kitchen utensils and hygiene products. To view a full list of items, you can find it on the Food Pantry page on the Edmonds College website, underneath “Donations.” The information to donate financially is under the donations tab as well.

The Food Pantry is not the only resource on campus to help financially insecure students. Food is just one aspect of the support that students need. Edmonds College has a community resource advocate to help students with rent and utilities assistance, emergency housing, and much more.

When deciding between whether to eat or get an education, that is an easy choice. Everyone is going to pick what helps them survive. This is a choice that students are being forced to make. With the cost of living on the rise, students are having to make a choice between their education and their basic survival needs. Resources like the Food Pantry are essential in allowing students to remain in college and finish their education. It’s hard to learn on an empty stomach, and the Food Pantry has a solution.