“I see students coming out with juice boxes or a granola bar, which is great. “I see students going in there (to the grab-and-go food station),” said Sean Carroll, director of BC3 Lawrence Crossing in New Castle. The percentage of residents reported to be in poverty in Pennsylvania counties are 11.7 in Armstrong, 7.4 in Butler, 11.0 in Jefferson, 12.9 in Lawrence and 12.4 in Mercer, according to the U.S. The college created its additional locations to serve under-represented Pennsylvania counties with higher education.
#INSIDE BUTLER COUNTY FREE#
The Pioneer Pantry served 644 BC3 credit and noncredit students and their families, or BC3 employees and their families, in 2021-2022.įollowing the establishment of its Pioneer Pantry, grab-and-go stations debuted and provide free food to students attending BC3’s locations in Armstrong, Butler, Jefferson, Lawrence and Mercer counties. Even if we serve one student in a week, we help one student not to have to worry about food.” “I can’t even begin to say how appreciative the people are who visit the pantry,” Jack said. Nearly half of community college students in Pennsylvania are considered to be of very low-income, coming from families earning less than $30,000 annually, according to the Pennsylvania Commission for Community Colleges in March. Department of Agriculture, “means access by all people at all times to enough food for an active, healthy life.” “We’ve done great work in this area, and obviously that work was validated by this tremendous recognition.”įood security, according to the U.S. “The college really took that to heart,” said Dr. The opening followed a 2018 Wisconsin Lab Study survey in which 38 percent of 304 BC3 student respondents indicated they experienced low or very low food security.
“Having grants and extra money (will help us) to be able to purchase those kinds of items if we need to or for just expanding.”īC3 opened the Pioneer Pantry on its main campus in Butler Township in September 2019.
Jack leads BC3’s food security team, a group of 10 college administrators or faculty members who address food insecurity among BC3 students and employees. Nearly 20 half-gallons of milk were discarded when a compressor failed in a refrigerator used by the Pioneer Pantry sometime during a three-day Labor Day weekend in September, Jack said. “And there are always things that we do need.” “We are always looking to grow,” said Karen Jack, BC3’s project director of a KEYS program whose low-income students such as Heckert receive SNAP benefits. Grants would help institutions of higher education enhance food pantries, increase Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program outreach, improve data gathering and participate in other initiatives that help to meet the nutritional needs of students, according to Wolf’s office. The 2022-2023 state budget allocated $1 million to begin a grant program to support the Hunger-Free Campus initiative that combats food insecurity at postsecondary institutions. Pennsylvania community colleges collectively serve more low-income students than any other sector of higher education, according to the Pennsylvania Commission for Community Colleges in March. The inaugural Hunger-Free Campus designation recognized 28 institutions of higher education in Pennsylvania that have taken measures to address student hunger and qualifies those institutions to seek related grants, according to Gov. Patronage in three years has increased 89 percent in the Pioneer Pantry, created by BC3 following a student survey and a measure the college has taken to address food insecurity as recognized in its designation as a Hunger-Free Campus by the state Department of Education. “Not only are they educating us,” the 51-year-old Butler resident said about students attending the community college, “but they are making sure we are getting the right nutrients.” (Butler, PA) The frozen chicken wings, fresh sweet potato, boxed pasta and bottled juice Kelly Heckert wheels with other foods in a red wagon from Butler County Community College’s Pioneer Pantry will provide supplemental nutrition for the adult literacy student and her 5-year-old granddaughter.
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