Stop & Shop Increases Aid to State College Students Facing Increased Food Insecurity
The Stop & Shop grocery store chain has announced that has donated $200,000 to campus food pantries on state university and college campuses, including CCSU, a 23% increase, as the Connecticut State Colleges and Universities (CSCU) reports a 40% increase in student monthly visits to campus food pantries.
“Across our colleges and universities, so many of our students are balancing full- or part-time jobs, academic demands, caregiving responsibilities, and the ongoing challenge of affording basic necessities,” said CSCU Interim Chancellor Dr John Maduko.
CCSU said that a 2024 survey on the campus revealed that,
-55% of students reported that they could not afford to eat balanced meals and 47% reported they had to reduce the size of their meals because they didn’t have enough money to purchase more food.
-Over a quarter of students (27%) reported they went at least one day a week without eating because of their financial situation
“We know that when students don’t have consistent access to nutritious food,” said CCSU President, Dr Zulma R Toro, “it can have a detrimental effect on their educational experience.”
CCSU said that the Stop & Shop School Food Pantry Program will assist in two ways,
-$184,000 will go directly to support on-campus food pantries at Central, Eastern, Southern, and Western Connecticut State Universities and CT State Community College helping ensure students have consistent access to nutritious food and essential items.
-In partnership with General Mills, Stop & Shop will donate 1,000 care packages to be distributed during midterms week. The bags will include food staples such as Progresso Soups and healthy snacks including fruit and Nature’s Valley granola bars to provide critical support to students during a high-stress time of the academic year. General Mills has been a generous sponsor of Stop & Shop’s School Food Pantry Program for the past four years.
“Our goal,” said Roger Wheeler, President of Stop & Shop, “is for students across Connecticut to feel supported, nourished and empowered to focus on school and their future. No one should ever go to school wondering where their next meal is coming from. By taking that burden off of students and their families, we are giving them a chance to focus on their schoolwork and thrive.”
Both Dr Maduko and Dr Toro expressed appreciation for the Stop & Shop donation.
Dr Toro said, “The generosity of Stop & Shop — and the care and effort their team has shown by assembling packages alongside our students, faculty, and staff — truly embodies what it means to be part of a caring community.”
“The care packages were assembled at Central Connecticut State University with the help of volunteers from Stop & Shop, students, faculty, and staff and will be distributed across all four university campuses,” CCSU says. “The bags also included hand-written notes of inspiration from fellow CSCU students to encourage and inspire each other during mid-terms.”
“The Stop & Shop School Food Pantry Program has partnered with CSCU for five years, totaling more than $597,500 in donations,” CCSU says.
Stop & Shop is a union workplace, including in New Britain, with union workers primarily members of United Food and Commercial Workers (UFCW) Local 919.
