Northhampton News

Pennsylvania’s first lady Frances Wolf thinks it is unacceptable that a reported 30% of college students nationwide have food insecurity, and she recently joined government officials, college students and advocates to address the issue at college campuses in Pennsylvania.

Wolf was joined by Senate Democratic Appropriations Chairman Vincent Hughes, Sen. Carolyn Comitta, House Democratic Leader Joanna McClinton and Rep. Jennifer O’Mara, according to a March 28 press release.

In Gov. Tom Wolf’s 2022-23 budget proposal, he allocated $1 million for the creation of a grant program to help Pennsylvania high school education organizations address food insecurity, the release stated.

“College should not be a privilege reserved for individuals with disposable incomes, and hunger should never be what holds someone back from succeeding in higher education,” Frances said in the release. “We must do all we can to support our students as they pursue futures that can benefit all of Pennsylvania.”

The program was inspired by the Hunger-Free Campus bills proposed by Comitta and Rep. Malcolm Kenyatta, the release stated. The program would help schools create or expand food pantries, increase outreach about available resources, hire social workers and more.

Hughes said that COVID-19 exposed an “unspoken secret,” that many college students were battling food insecurity, according to the release. He thanked the Wolf administration for their leadership in curbing the issue and said there is an opportunity to make a positive impact and help students in need.

“College students face enough challenges without needing to worry about where their next meal will come from,” Hughes said.

An estimated 36% of students know someone who has dropped out due to food insecurity during the pandemic, and 52% of students have faced food or housing insecurity in 2020 and didn’t apply for support, the release stated. Many claimed they did not know how to apply for support either.

Penn State Vice President of Student Affairs Damon Sims said awareness about food insecurity is growing at Penn State and other schools, the release stated.

“It has been heartening to see the commitment of our student leaders to meaningfully address this fundamental issue in partnership with the Penn State administration,” Sims said. “The funding proposed by Governor Wolf would make an enormous difference in our collective effort to overcome a challenge faced by too many students across the commonwealth. We can all do better by these students, and I know we shall.”

Swipe Out Hunger, a national non-profit organization, brought nearly 100 students and school administrators to the state capitol to meet with legislators, the release stated. Students from more than a dozen schools attended the meeting. 

Swipe Out Hunger works to ensure students have access to quality meals and works with elected leaders to draft legislation and policies to end hunger, the release stated. The movement includes 400 colleges across the United States. The organization has served more than 2.5 million meals.

“It speaks volumes to have the first lady support our coalition of more than 100 college students across Pennsylvania and other community partners to address student food insecurity through the Hunger Free Campus Bill,” said Rachel Sumekh, founder, and CEO of Swipe Out Hunger. “We’re thrilled to galvanize and organize together to ensure no student has to choose between food and their education.”