Feeding More

  • BY Cal State East Bay
  • September 26, 2017

Hungry students at Cal State East Bay will now have a third location where they can receive food donations through the university’s Pioneers for HOPE program.

The HOPE pantry at the Hayward campus was the first of its kind for the university and opened in fall of 2016. A second pantry was started at the Concord campus soon after and a third at the Hayward campus’ library will open this week. To date, the two pantries have served more than 50 students and additional students have come forward to seek help with housing needs due to the program’s increased exposure.

According to a study released by the California State University chancellor’s office, one in 10 of the CSU’s 460,000 students is homeless. In response, several campuses including Cal State East Bay launched food pantries, distributed hygiene kits and started clothing drives.

The library pantry was funded through a gift from Sacramento City Councilman and Cal State East Bay alumnus Allen Warren, and a ribbon cutting ceremony is planned for Sept. 27 at 10 a.m. A ceremony for the Concord pantry has been rescheduled for Oct. 3 at 3 p.m. after a flood canceled the original event earlier this year.

According to Alex Baker, case management coordinator at Cal State East Bay, HOPE is looking forward to expanding its services and meeting more needs through the library location, which will be open 24 hours.

For more information about the Pioneers for HOPE program visit csueastbay.edu/hope.