Mar 04, 2017 09:40 AM EST By Audri Taylors, UniversityHerald Reporter

Going to college is just getting more and more expensive, and many students are challenged with budgeting their money not only with the tuition and fees, but also with the other expenses including their food. Many of them do not even have enough money to pay for regular meals, which led to a college coming up with a way to help: Campus Cupboard.

Alexandria Technical and Community College has put up a food shelf to help their hungry students, because according to the staff, student hunger has been quite an issue for some time, Echo Press reported.

Debra LeDoux, chief diversity officer at the college, said that they realized there was a need for this project because they have been hearing students telling the staff about not having enough food. That is why they thought it was a perfect time to get a food shelf up and running. And with the help from information technology, the college submitted a request form and began the inventory online.

LeDoux said they continue to get donations from ATCC employees as they have received over 150 items since February. They also received a grant from the ATCC foundation and a couple of items from the local food shelf.

Four campus based organizations studied the problem and surveyed over 3,000 students in 12 states, all pertaining to food insecurity. The survey results have shown that food insecurity is common in both two year and four year institutions.

The students who wish to use the Campus Cupboard must submit their request online via their student portal.

Alexandria Technical and Community College is not the only college that has opened this Campus Cupboard project. According to Lancaster Online, more colleges and universities opened their food pantries in order to address the issue of student hunger in their respective campuses.

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