Plinske (right) and Geraghty checking out the new VCentials grocery mart during an unveiling at VC's west campus in Orlando. Photo: Joe Burbank/Orlando Sentinel/TNS
Valencia College students short of money and worried they cannot afford food can now shop for free at a new, on-campus food pantry designed to look like a small store and offer stigma-free shopping.
The VCentials store replaces a smaller, closet-style pantry on Valencia’s West Orange County campus in Orlando, Florida in the United States. It aims to deal with a sobering statistic: In a 2021 survey, 40% of Valencia’s students reported struggling to afford the food they needed.
The new store, funded with a nearly US$400,000 (RM1.87mil) grant from Florida Blue, is a "dream come true”, said Valencia President Kathleen Plinske, as the college hosted the facility’s official opening on Sept 12.
"One of our big ideas is anyone can learn anything under the right conditions,” Plinske said.
But students who are hungry, or worried about how to pay for groceries, aren’t in the right condition to maximise their academic success, she said.
After they leave public high schools, she added, many of Valencia’s students feel the loss of the free meals their school district provided.
"In high school, I got lunch,” one student wrote on the food survey, Plinske said.
Valencia has run food pantries – stocked by donations from Valencia faculty, staff and students – on its campuses for 11 years, but money from the insurance giant’s charitable foundation allowed it to create the bigger VCentials store, and to make plans for similar facilities at the college’s east Orange and Osceola County campuses, too.
Second Harvest Food Bank is providing food to the college for VCentials, some at a reduced cost and some for free.
On Sept 12, the store was stocked with cereal and snacks, cans of beans and soups, packages of rice and pasta, fresh fruit and vegetables and even chicken and ground beef in a freezer case.
Hygiene products were available, too. Students can take 10 items a day and can order online and pick up their supplies the next day, if they want.
"It’s an amazing opportunity for the school,” said Andres Perez, present of Valencia’s student government association. "This is an upgrade.”
Students used the old pantry, Perez said, but they will likely appreciate the new one, with its easily accessible location in a main building on campus and a design that tries to “tackle that stigma” about food pantries.
"It gives off a more comforting air,” agreed Thomas Jarrett, another Valencia student who has worked at the food pantry on Valencia’s east campus.
The college picked the name VCentials after surveying students who said calling it a "pantry” was off-putting. Its design, including red plastic shopping baskets, mimics that of commercial stores.
Rebecca Daguindeau, another student, thinks the new pantry will help classmates who "just need basic necessities to get through their day,” or maybe didn’t eat breakfast and find themselves hungry as a long day stretches on. "I think it’s really important,” she said.
Many students work, take classes on more than one Valencia campus and worry about the cost of gas and other bills, she added.
Karen Cruz-Garcia agreed.
"As a student, I’m pretty sure I will use it,” she said.
"Absolutely,” Daguindeau said.
Valencia expects about 500 students a month to use VCentials on its west campus, said Lesley Frederick, the college’s vice president for student affairs.
Valencia’s students lead "complex lives”, Frederick added, with many juggling school, jobs and family responsibilities. About half are the first in their families to attend college and nearly 40% qualify for federal Pell grants, reserved for the lowest-income college students, Valencia data shows.
Inside the VCentials store, Valencia also plans to provide a staff member who can offer referrals to other agencies, if students need help with childcare or counselling for mental health, for example.
Florida Blue’s donation to the Valencia store was part of the US$3.73mil (RM17.47mil) it donated to 10 community organisations last year. Valencia’s project fit with its effort to "make healthy food more accessible and affordable”, the Florida Blue Foundation said.
Pat Geraghty, president and CEO of Florida Blue, the state’s Blue Cross Blue Shield firm, said company leaders want it to be "not just an insurance company” but a "health solutions company”.
The support for the food pantry will be ongoing.
"This is a big day,” Geraghty added. – Orlando Sentinel/Tribune News Service
