At Portland Community College, our flagship basic needs program is the Panther Pantry, a stop gap service that addresses food insecurity. At PCC 2 out of 3 students report being food insecure. To help alleviate this barrier, we have 4 Panther Pantries across the PCC district. Set up as a small grocery store, students can shop the pantry once per week, filling up a shopping basket. They are open access with no requirements other than being a current PCC student.
All of the college Food Insecurity programs are run out of Student Life & Leadership, and have been majority funded by Student Activity Fees at PCC since their inception. Students saw this as a need & tax themselves, and we received some grant dollars and support from the PCC Foundation. We have a partnership with the Oregon Food Bank that allows us to purchase food for low cost and reduce food waste.
As we try to meet the immediate needs for all students, we recognize that Panther Pantry is not a one size fits all solution. Through the Panther Pantry, staff and student leaders sponsor events and programs.These initiatives are ways to reach out beyond the services of a typical pantry to serve the students in different ways. Some new programs we have rolled out this year include:
- Free Food Markets: community events that center fresh produce provided by the Oregon Food Bank. We get large orders of produce from OFB and add in backstock of non perishable items to distribute to community members. Free Food Market is a one-off event that is scheduled around our campus delivery schedule from the OFB. This event is open to all and there are no limits. No ID is needed to attend, we only ask how many are in their household. We ask that participants bring their own bag or box to transport the food.
- Panther Snacks: this program provides opportunities for campus partners to work with Basic Needs, Sustainability & Leadership. The Panther Snacks Program helps provide snacks in spaces across the district. The partnership helps our students, meeting them where they are at.
- Panther Packs: grocery bag meal kits that students can take in addition to their weekly shopping limits. These bags are typically scheduled to be given out before long breaks while the pantry is closed, but we have expanded to the program to have the kits available every two weeks throughout the school year.
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Chelsea Kimmett
Coordinator, Basic Needs, Sustainability & Leadership
Portland Community College
Portland OR
(971) 722-5371
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Original Message:
Sent: 03-25-2024 15:57
From: Chelsea Kimmett
Subject: Student Basic Needs Work
What are your institutions doing to support student basic needs? How do basic needs work connect to student leadership programs and/or student union work?
#Planning
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Chelsea Kimmett
Coordinator, Basic Needs, Sustainability & Leadership
Portland Community College
Portland OR
(971) 722-5371
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