Students helping students

Published September 12, 2016

Update: Students donated more than 1200 meals during the Feed A Need week. 

Students strolled into the Hillside Dining Hall on Monday faced with choices. Would it be Mexican, Chinese bowl or a healthy option? Maybe that green smoothie or a grilled cheese sandwich.

For other students on campus, those who can’t afford meal plans, the choice isn’t always so clear-cut. Food or books? Bus fare or a coffee? That’s where Feed A Need comes in.

The program, sponsored by Cal State Long Beach’s Student Emergency Intervention and Wellness Program, asks students to donate one meal from their meal plan that will be used to provide less fortunate students with a healthy and well-balanced meal. The weeklong program is being held in three of the university’s dining commons – Parkside, Hillside and Beachside.

Kelsey Crane, director of Annual Giving, was encouraged by the number of students at Hillside Dining Hall who signed up. In a little more than an hour, she had collected more than 50 donation cards. Earlier in the day, Parkside Dining Hall had gathered 70, with Beachside still to be accounted.

All three dining halls will be asking for donations through Saturday, and the 49er Shops will match the first 100 meals donated at each dining hall. That could total more than 600 meals.

“It’s one meal and to be able to help someone else is a beautiful thing,” said Amarris Davidson, a junior transfer student. “It’s a small world and who knows, I might run into someone who needs this.”

According to a recent CSU study, roughly 10 percent students in the California State University system experience homelessness and 23 percent worry about hunger.

Louis Thomsett, a third-year exchange student, said he was moved to help after seeing a number of homeless people on Bellflower Boulevard.

“I always have more than enough meals,” he said. “And it helps someone else.”