By Nicole MOORE

On Oct. 18, Glendale Community College held a dedication ceremony for the campus’ recently opened Food for Thought Pantry. Attending the event were professors, facility, students and community members.

The GCC Food for Thought Pantry provides non-perishable and hygienic products for students in need. Many of the items donated are from GCC staff members. Volunteers working at the food pantry consist mainly of GCC students. Additionally, the Kiwanis Club of Glendale and the Grocery Outlet in Sunland made donations.

“[The food pantry] is helping bring the community closer. People are really entrenched in this idea,” said Ellen Oppenberg, GCC Food for Thought Pantry outreach coordinator.

Currently, there are no requirements GCC students must meet in order to qualify for assistance from the food pantry. Since its opening on Sept. 26, the food pantry has aided 102 students.

“Student success is a very important goal,” said Oppenberg. “Certainly if someone’s stomach is empty it is harder to succeed.”

The task force behind the Food for Thought Pantry was formed in July 2016 and is composed of eight GCC staff members. The task force came into being when GCC’s academic senate began to take notice of articles documenting food scarcity faced by college students across the country. This revelation caused the academic senate to look inward and assess the wellbeing of students on the GCC campus.

“The academic senate of GCC focuses on student success. [They] recognized the need to serve hungry students [and how that would affect] student success,” said Dr. David Viar, superintendent and president of GCC. “We compliment them for starting that discussion.”

Anita Gabrielian, president of the board of trustees for GCC, noted the mixed emotions surrounding the creation of an on-campus food pantry.

“This is a beautiful but bittersweet moment. It fills my heart to see dedicated faculty and how wonderful the academic senate [has been] in realizing there is a need in our community,” Gabrielian said. “It is bitter though because we have that need.”

“No student should ever think about where their next meal should come from,” added Emin Azarian, the Associated Students of GCC’s president.

In the future, the task force would like to open a food pantry at the Garfield campus and gain partnerships with Los Angeles food banks. Additionally, they hope to find a more accommodating space for a refrigerator in order to store perishables.

At the end of the event, the task force gave certificates to the Kiwanis Club of Glendale, Dr. Viar, Sunland Grocery Outlet and Lisa Brooks of GCC’s Foundation for their donations and service toward the cause.

The food pantry’s hours are Mondays and Tuesdays from noon to 1:30 p.m. and from 4:30 p.m. to 6:30 p.m.; Wednesdays and Thursdays from noon to 1:30 p.m.; Fridays from 10 a.m. to 12:30 p.m. For more information visit www.glendale.edu/foodpantry.

  Nicole MOORE