New market pantry opens for ACC students
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ALPENA -- A new market pantry opened for Alpena Community College (ACC) students this fall to fight hunger and provide healthy meal options.
The pantry is located in the Besser Technical Center. The market can only be accessed by scanning a student ID at the door. There is also an app that students can use to access the space, Lisa Blumenthal, marketing and data specialist at ACC, said. Students are free to take what they need as long as they are mindful of the needs of others.
The market was made possible through a Michigan Department of Lifelong Education, Advancement, and Potential (MiLEAP) Hunger Free Campus Activities grant for $99,700. ACC was one of eight colleges and universities in Michigan to receive money from the grant. The grant was open to both public and private colleges across the state of Michigan.
The pantry is stocked with fresh food, pantry items, frozen food, and refrigerated food as well as hygiene supplies.
Blumenthal and Kristen Wisniewski, director of workforce grants at ACC, led the grant writing and putting the funds into action.
The grant is also funding nutrition education for students. Jess Krawczak, a local registered nutritionist, has been hosting cooking classes and workshops for ACC students to teach them the basics of making healthy meals.
"Some of them have been kitchen basics, so teaching them how to appropriately cut up vegetables, safely cut up vegetables and learning about balanced plate, and really being able to cook for themselves for that first time," Wisniewski said. "A lot of our students haven't done that before."
Part of the grant funding goes towards putting together a stock pantry.
"I'm trying to purchase as much frozen and shelf stable so that when we transition away from the grant and then into the Foundation, that the Foundation can focus on those fresh items," Wisniewski said.
The pantry will continue to be stocked through the donations of items as well as financial donations once the grant funding is used up. The ACC Foundation will take over most of the funding. Blumenthal said there is a line item account through the Foundation that is dedicated solely for the food pantry that people can choose to donate to if they would like to.
Another part of the grant purchased meal cards for the Lumberjack Shack, an on-campus dining option for students and staff. Those cards can be given to students in need of a meal without the money to purchase one.
Wisniewski said she also worked with Meijer to obtain gift cards that can only be used to purchase food items. Those will also be given to students in need.
A rack of recipe cards from MyMichigan Health are available in the market for students to use.
Wisniewski said she came across a student that had taken a recipe card and was searching for the ingredients in the pantry.
"(They) came up to me, and 'Do you have chicken?" I said 'Actually I do. I just carried it from the car," Wisniewski said.
Bella Lear, a second year English major at ACC, said during Thursday's Board of Trustees meeting that she is very grateful that the market is an option for her.
"I come from a very low income family, so I was kind of used to living off soup and ramen," she said. "But now that we have the new market at ACC and the new pantry and the cooking classes...I'm waking up better. I feel more energized because I have a more healthy, balanced diet."
ACC President Don MacMaster expressed his appreciation for the work that Blumenthal and Wisniewski did to get the pantry running.
"I think it’s a real complement to their effort in helping students in need," MacMaster said in a phone call.
Reagan Voetberg can be reached at 989-358-5683 or rvoetberg@thealpenanews.com.