Delta and food bank Second Harvest hosted a free food drop as part of Second Harvest’s Mobile Fresh program in the Shima 2 parking lot on Aug. 28.
This event was the first Mobile Fresh food drop hosted exclusively for Delta students. For the previous two food drops at Delta, Second Harvest hosted Mobile Fresh at the campus for all members of the public.
“It helps the community for sure. I know a bunch of people from all age ranges that come here … I know some people that have been asking for this to come back … It helps out the students and the community, I’ve seen a bunch of different age groups and a lot of people will tend to come here if possible,” said Emmanuel Matigbay, a student at Delta.
Volunteers offered items on a first-come, first-served basis. The food drop offered a wide variety of foodstuffs across various tables. Items included fresh produce, bags of dairy products, bags of processed foods, beverages like sparkling water and boxes of baked goods. Watermelons were a popular item at the food drop, going out of stock by 9:55 a.m.
“This is my first time coming, and I was really excited to see what was gonna happen, and what the vibe and what kind the people were gonna give off. It didn’t disappoint …” said Joselena Warham, a student at Delta College.
Students brought their ID’s to be scanned, taking bags and wagons with them to carry food.
“With the Mobile Fresh food drops, it’s not point-related like how it is in our Food Pantry … with Mobile Fresh … you can get multiple,” said Valerie Valera, acting student programs assistant at the Student Delta’s Food Pantry.
During the food drop, volunteers were not allowed to take any of the food available for themselves. The team brought donuts for the volunteers in compensation. When the team ended the event at 10:24 am., the volunteers celebrated by taking a group photo. Volunteers who stayed until 11 a.m. were rewarded with gift bags and count take any leftover food.
“A lot of our student population is homeless or in poverty and struggle with their ability to afford groceries … When I first started off at Delta, I was also facing homelessness. So it’s just good to be able to be in a position where I’m able to help other students, who are where I was when I first started out here,” said Alyssa Suarez, a worker in the Student Delta’s Food Pantry and Office of Student Life.
Delta and Second Harvest are scheduled to host the Mobile Fresh food drop three more times throughout the Fall Semester. Mobile Fresh food drops will be hosted on the fourth Wednesday of every month. These dates include: Sept. 25, Oct. 23, and Nov. 27.
“We are still gonna continue doing the Mobile Fresh food drops once a month every fourth Wednesday … We are having a fundraising campaign that will be launching in November of this semester to try and gain donations for the Food Pantry, as well as trying to sign up for grants and hosting more events from the Food Pantry on campus,” Valera said.
Upon the first 30 minutes of the event, 87 students had arrived to the food drop. Fewer students came as the event progressed, so the volunteers ended the event around 10:24 a.m. with some volunteers leaving the parking lot. The food drop itself was still open until 11 a.m. By the scheduled end of the food drop, 142 students in total had come.
“We’re having a high increase of students that come to the Pantry … I’ve seen it go from 50 students a week, if not a day, to going well over 200, close to 300 students a day. And last year, I can probably say I was in service of a thousand students last year for the semester. That’s a lot of students, you know, when you put it in perspective,” said Alyssa Phillips, a worker at Delta’s Food Pantry. “You know, they have to focus and food can be a big distraction if you don’t have it, and that’s the thing here on campus is that 62 percent of students at Delta struggle with food insecurity. And I think the school’s mission, if they want students to come here and learn, is to provide nourishing food for their bodies so they can be able to learn, and focus and stay on track of their academic studies.”
