Books, gas, rent or food?
A
ll too often, these are choices
students make every day. Money
runs out before food is purchased,
food runs out before the next paycheck.
To address that problem, the Gavilan
College Food Pantry opened to students,
with a soft launch May 3 and a grand
opening with free pizza May 17.
In the 2013-2014 academic year
Gavilan conducted a student survey
about household food availability. “We
found 33% indicated they experienced
food insecurity on an ongoing basis,” said
Susan Sweeney, director of the CalWORKs
program on campus. Researching area
resources, she discovered Second Harvest
Food Bank (SHFB) already provided food
to other colleges.
The food pantry at Gavilan College is a
new program using USDA Supplemental
Student Trustee awarded
$20,000 Karl S. Pister
Scholarship
Graduating
student trustee
Adrian Lopez
was awarded the
largest scholarship
to be presented:
$20,000 over two
years to attend UC
Santa Cruz. He is
pictured here with
his mentor, Gavilan
College Counselor
Dr. Blanca Arteaga.
Nutrition Assistance Program funding in
collaboration with CalFresh, SHFB and
St. Joseph’s Family Center in Gilroy.
“This is a pilot to see if the need
is really there,” said Vice President of
Student Services Kathleen Moberg. “The
long range plan would be to find space,
add refrigerators and freezers to add
perishable food to the current offerings.”
To help launch the program, “We
received $500 funding through Associated
Students of Gavilan College for marketing,”
said Sweeney. Anika Mathewson and Laura
Hanamoto, both Gavilan students, rotate
schedules to staff the pantry.
Open Monday-Friday 9:30 am - 2:30
pm the Gavilan College Food Pantry will
be open during the summer. For more
information, contact Gavilan College
CalWORKs program at (408) 848-4798.
ABOVE LEFT: Annette Guiterrez (center), CalWORKs
Program Service Specialist, trains new staff Laura
Hanamoto (left) and Anika Mathewson about the
variety of foods available to college students.
MIDDLE: Students were treated to free pizza and
music during college lunch hour as the Gavilan
College Food Pantry celebrated its grand opening.
ABOVE: Tometrius Paxton, Partnership Manager with
Second Harvest Food Bank talks with Kathleen
Moberg,Vice President of Student Services, as students
select food choices during the center’s grand opening.
George Kyriakopoulos signs in before selecting
food items from the newly-opened Gavilan College
Food Pantry.
College Distributes
$75,000 in Scholarships
A
t the annual Scholarship
Awards Ceremony on May
19, Gavilan College Education
Foundation and the Financial
Aid Offi ce presented student
scholarships totaling almost
$75,000 from donors including:
Gilroy and Morgan Hill branches
of the American Association of
University Women, the American
Legion, Associated Students of
Gavilan College, Besson Family
Vineyards, Pacifi c Dining, the
South Valley Democratic Club,
California School Employees
GILROY • MORGAN HILL • SAN MARTIN
JULY / AUGUST 2016
Association Chapter 270, the
Kai and Libby Lai Family Fund,
South Valley Unitarian Universalist
Fellowship, Hazel Hawkins
Foundation and memorial
scholarships for Rudy Melone,
Cindy Starr, Edna and Waldo
Rohnert, Eunice J. Picetti, Edward
Thorne, George and Marge
Dufresne, and Lauren Jenkins.
For information about how to
create a scholarship or memorial
fund, visit the webpage of the
Gavilan College Office of Financial
Aid, gavilan.edu/finaid.
gmhtoday.com
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