Ivy Tech Community College has opened a food pantry at its Lawrence facility to prepare for the larger number of students expected to take classes there.
Although Ivy Tech plans to close and sell its Lawrence building in the coming years, more students will take classes there in the short term while the community college renovates the Illinois Fall Creek Center in Indianapolis.
Community college students tend to have higher rates of food insecurity than their peers at four-year universities. Nearly a quarter of community college students experienced food insecurity, according to 2020 federal data compiled by Temple University’s Hope Center.
On Nov. 7, the first day the Lawrence pantry was open, 32 students came to get food. That demand on day one shows a clear need among students, said Mary Louise Edwards, director of IvyCares.
“If you are able to pick up food from our pantry, then that’s going to give you an extra $100, $200 that you’re able to pay on the light bill,” Edwards said. “We’re hoping that this is a way to help students better balance in these hard economic times that we live in.”
Visit the Lawrence food pantry
For the rest of the semester, stop by Ivy Tech’s Lawrence pantry in Room 376 at the Fairbanks Center for Health Professions, 9301 E. 59th St., on the following days:
- Nov. 13, 10 a.m. to 3:30 p.m.
- Dec. 5, 10 a.m, to 2 p.m.
- Dec. 9, 1 p.m. to 4 p.m.
You have to be an Ivy Tech student and will have to show your class schedule to shop at the pantry. Students will also fill out an application so that the human services department can follow up with additional resources, including information about applying for food stamps. Faculty and staff can also use the pantry.
Ivy Tech gets most of its food from Gleaners, with occasional donations of vegetables and produce from the campus garden and other items from community members.
Students can take two meats, eight canned items, two personal hygiene products, two cleaning supplies and several other staples like pasta and cereal.
Students also can shop twice a month at the main campus’ pantry in Room 414 of the North Meridian Center, 50 W. Fall Creek Parkway N. Drive. The pantry is open 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. Monday through Friday during the school year.
How you can help
There is a donation box outside of IvyCares’ office in the North Meridian Center in Indianapolis. Ivy Tech Lawrence does not yet have a place to accept donated items, Edwards said.
Although you can donate any canned or nonperishable food item, Ivy Tech is particularly in need of laundry soap, cleaning supplies and personal hygiene items like deodorant.
Claire Rafford covers higher education for Mirror Indy in partnership with Open Campus. Contact Claire at claire.rafford@mirrorindy.org or on Instagram/X @clairerafford.
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