As part of the college’s efforts to respond to students struggling with food insecurity, IC established an on campus food pantry with the assistance of a gift from the Lissy Family Foundation. The pantry opened in February.

“The mission of our family foundation is to help people in need across a variety of spectrums,” said Dave Lissy ’87, chair of the Ithaca College Board of Trustees. “When we hear about issues like food insecurity, and that there are students experiencing hunger on our own campus, it resonates with my wife and me. It felt like an opportunity to lend a hand.”

This issue is not unique to Ithaca College. A report last spring from the Wisconsin HOPE Lab revealed that more than a third of students at 35 four-year colleges reported having “low” or “very low” levels of food security. And a quarter of students said they had skipped or cut the size of their meals three times in the last month due to lack of money. There are currently 570 colleges with food pantries for students, up from four just a decade ago.

Since spring 2017, the college has hosted a mobile food pantry on campus once a month in a program provided by the Food Bank of the Southern Tier, in partnership with the Ithaca College Food Insecurity Working Group. Approximately 200 community members take advantage of this service each time. The new on-campus pantry will help ensure that the college can meet the needs of students on an ongoing basis, and, as with the mobile food pantry, it will be open to all members of the campus community.

Visit ithaca.edu/giving to make a gift to the food pantry. Under “Designation,” please indicate that you would like to “Give to area(s) of your choice,” and then specify “IC Fund to Address Food Insecurity.” Your gift will be used to purchase food, personal care items, and other supplies needed by our campus community.