Compassion Challenge Aims to Raise 500 Pounds of Donations to Rutgers-Newark Food Pantry
For students with children and other family members who depend on them, the holidays can be an especially hard time to keep everyone fed. The winter break means children are off school, where many can count on at least one meal a day. This year has been even harder with the interruption and restriction of SNAP benefits.
To help fill the gaps, Rutgers-Newark leadership, and the Student Government Association, issued the Compassion Challenge. Its goal is to collect 500 pounds of donations to fill the shelves at Pantry +, the campus food pantry. The challenge lasts until December 15.
“Relative to when the SNAP crisis started, we saw an increase in students wanting to use the pantry and definitely with the holidays coming,’’ said Bryan Barros, program coordinator and interim manager at Pantry +.
But every holiday season, there’s an increased need for food. The pantry often has to limit certain items around the holiday in hopes of giving everyone their share. “There are big family dinners planned to celebrate. This is an important time,’’ added Barros.
“We live and work in a food desert. And many of our students are struggling under the weight of the realities of hunger,’’ said Dean Jacqueline Mattis of the School of Arts and Sciences-Newark.
“Hunger is an unconscionably painful and very disrupt-able condition; and as an institution rooted in an ethos of care, we can disrupt this. For the leadership team here at RU-N, there is a shared commitment to making this campus a compassionate space. We do that by noticing, attending, and acting out of compassionate love,’’ she said.
Along with Mattis, the initiative is led by Rutgers-Newark Chancellor Tonya Smith-Jackson and the deans of each school: Dean Kaifeng Yang, of the School of Public Affairs and Administration, Dean Johanna Bond of Rutgers Law School, Dean Nancy La Vigne of the School of Criminal Justice, Dean Lei Lei of Rutgers Business School, and Interim Dean Gregg Van Ryzi of the Graduate School-Newark.
Donors are asked to order food from their favorite vender and have it delivered to the address below::
Pantry RU-N c/o Bryan Barros
Rutgers University Newark
350 Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. Blvd
Room 226, Newark, New Jersey 07102
Monetary donations can be made to
Pantry Run
RU-N Compassion Challenge
Here is a list of most needed items:
• Milk alternatives
(almond/oat)
• Non-sugary cereals (Cheerios,
Chex, Life, Bran/Granola etc.)
• Gluten-free cereals
• Olive/Vegetable oil
• Non-perishable foods
including canned fruits &
veggies, crackers, rice and peanut butter
