The Hunger-Free UMD Workgroup is a new campus-wide coalition focused on combating food insecurity and its surrounding issues with the goal of creating a hunger-free campus. In a Food Access and Student Well-Being Study, led by Dr. Yu-Wei Wang, Director of Research for the Counseling Center, results found student’s physical health, mental health, and academic success were negatively impacted by food insecurity.
20% of the student body was found to be food insecure, and 21% were at risk of food insecurity. In addition, the study found racial/ ethnic minorities, low socioeconomic, first Generation, and LGBTQ students are more likely to be food insecure, and are also more likely to face house insecurity.
There are currently three programs available to members of the University of Maryland campus: the UMD Campus Pantry, the Emergency Meal Fund, and the CCMA AmeriCorps VISTA program. The UMD Campus Pantry was established in 2014 and provides emergency food assistance via non-perishables out of the University Health Center. More information can be found here: http://campuspantry.umd.edu/
The Emergency Meal Fund was established in 2017 in collaboration with SGA and Dining Services. The program provides meals to students through a pre-loaded meal card and allows students to receive 10 free meals from any of the campus dining halls. It is currently being piloted through a number of offices including Office of Parent and Family Affairs, Office of Undocumented Students, and Dining Services. Contact Allison Tjaden at alilly@umd.edu for more information.
Campus Compact MidAtlantic (CCMA) is a non-profit organization that works to place AmeriCorp VISTAs in roles at higher education. Dining Services was awarded 2 AmeriCorp VISTA grants for 3 years. The UMD Campus Pantry CCMA AmeriCorps VISTA Member will be focused on expanding the capacity of the pantry, developing student leaders, and establishing/ supporting Hunger-Free UMD Workgroup. The Terp Farm CCMA AmeriCorps VISTA Member will focus on establishing a gleaning program to reduce food waste on campus while improving access to fresh vegetables for the UMD Campus Pantry and greater UMD Community.
For more information, or to get involved please reach out to gsg-office@umd.edu.