**Central Valley Community Colleges Struggle to Keep Student Food Pantries Stocked Amid Government Shutdown**
FRESNO-CLOVIS, Calif. (KFSN) — Community colleges in the Central Valley pride themselves on supporting their students beyond just education. One key resource making a real difference is the Crush Pantry at Clovis Community College, a free grocery program dedicated to helping students in need.
“This right here is one of the greatest things that I think a campus should possibly have,” said Brandi Smith, a full-time student at Clovis Community College and an employee at the Crush Pantry.
Karinna Tate, another student-employee, shared what motivated her to join the pantry team. “The fact that we are able to provide food to these students and see them light up, because a lot of them are dependent on this, was what initially got me into this field,” Tate explained.
However, with the ongoing historic government shutdown, keeping the shelves stocked has become increasingly difficult. Bonita Gomez, the Basic Needs Director at Clovis Community College, expressed her concerns:
“Unfortunately, from the time that I started to log in to the time that I logged out and submitted the order, half of the items were gone.”
Many junior colleges in the Valley rely heavily on local food banks to supply their student pantries. Due to the lack of federal funding, these colleges are now reaching out to their communities for support.
“Help feed these students, help feed these families; there should be no reason why anybody should go without,” Smith urged, appealing to the public for assistance.
Across town, Fresno City College’s Ram Pantry is also working hard to meet the needs of nearly a thousand students relying on their free grocery program daily.
“We’re serving about 1,000 a day who really rely on our free grocery program,” said Dr. Kizzy Lopez, Basic Needs Director at Fresno City College.
Dr. Lopez noted that the college’s efforts to provide food assistance began well before the current food aid programs were affected.
On Monday, the Trump administration announced partial funding for the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP), but the specifics of the proposal remain unclear.
With the holidays approaching, Fresno City College is taking a proactive approach. “We’ve been working together to try to curate a list of available resources, not only in Fresno but in surrounding counties, including pop-up pantries and food distribution events specific to November,” Dr. Lopez shared.
Both Fresno City College and Clovis Community College are currently accepting donations, both in person and online, to help support their student food pantries during this challenging time.
For those interested in contributing, please visit the respective college websites for donation details. Your support can make a significant difference in the lives of local students and families struggling with food insecurity.
https://abc30.com/post/college-pantries-seeing-supply-shortage-amid-government-shutdown/18110086/