How Pitt-Greensburg is Battling Food Insecurity

Food insecurity is an increasingly growing issue among communities, specifically at the collegiate level. According to the USDA, food insecurity is described as not having access to sufficient or adequate quality foods that fulfill one’s basic human needs. When it comes to Pitt-Greensburg, according to the official website, 13.7% of students responded to a national survey disclosing that they went a day without food as a result of insufficient access to it. 

However, in recent years, Pitt-Greensburg has made an active effort to reduce these numbers with several programs on campus. One of these programs, the Free Little Food Pantry, was catapulted by Al Thiel, director of student involvement and student center operations. 

“The food pantry was actually an idea that we had begun to put into motion in fall of 2019, and then, in spring of 2020, that’s when everything got weird for a few years,” Thiel said. “It kind of got put on hold for a couple years while we dealt with the pandemic, but a lot of it was inspired by the former dean of students, Rick Fogle.”

Thiel discovered that there was a considerable amount of Pitt-Greenburg students that had indicated they struggled with food insecurity.

“We were just really blown away. We wanted to do something about it. So, the Free Little Food Pantry was the idea that Fogle came up with, pushed it out to me, I reached out to Student Government, and it was put into place,” Thiel said. 

The Free Little Food Pantry, located outside the upper floor of Cassell Hall and outside the upper floor of Millstein Library, is not the only resource provided to students on campus.

The second Thursday of every month from 11 a.m. to 1 p.m., the Westmoreland County Food Bank provides a mobile food market. Michelle Heller, director of programs at the Westmoreland County Food Bank, has been with the food bank for almost 15 years. 

“A program that is most familiar is our mobile market. This program is for minimum access areas of the county to receive free fresh fruits and vegetables. This farmer’s market on wheels provides a healthy resource to our neighbors in need in rural areas, senior communities, and college campuses such as Pitt-Greensburg,” Heller said. 

Both programs are free and confidential. 

“We wanted to have a way where students could serve themselves,” Thiel said. “That’s why we made the pantries and the mobile market very self-served — take what you need. There are never any questions asked, nobody’s monitoring or watching them. We don’t know who’s taking it, but we don’t want to know who’s taking it. That’s not the point. The point is that people are using it.”

Off-campus, the Westmoreland County Food Bank provides several other programs for those possibly struggling with food insecurity.

“My job enables me to work with multiple programs such as our senior food box program which enables low-income seniors to receive a 30 pound box of food,” Heller said. “The Weekend Backpack Program provides nutritious meal kits to over 600 students from area schools and non-profit organizations.” 

Outside of the Free Little Food Pantry and mobile market, people on campus are always willing to help if someone is struggling.

“If a student comes to us, we have been able to work with Chartwells in the past, offer more meal swipes depending on the situation, people can donate meal swipes at the end of the semester,” Thiel said. “A lot of what we do is on a case-to-case basis, because we’re small enough to do that. You’re never stuck.”

Students are able to donate to the Free Little Food Pantry as well as reach out to Student Services with any questions. The next visit from the mobile food truck is Thursday, Feb. 8 from 11 a.m. to 1 p.m. on Chambers Hall Lawn. If students would like to find out more about any of the Westmoreland County Food Bank’s programs, they can call toll-free at 1-800-462-2080 between 8 a.m. to 4 p.m. or visit the website.