Chemistry Instructor

Food Donation Bins

Food Donation Bins & A Wagon

One of the donation bins & the wagon the Chem 101 group funded.

Why purchase food donation bins?

  • Combats food waste
  • Reduces food entering the landfills, thereby also reducing methane emissions
  • Reduces water and land waste
  • Helps food insecure students obtain a meal
    • 41.6% of CSU students reported being food insecure (Crushfield and Maguire, 2018)
  • Alleviates the repercussions of food insecurity identified by Dubick et al., 2016:
    • 55% weren’t able to buy a required textbook
    • 53% missed a class
    • 25% reported they dropped a class
    • 43% of food insecure meal plan enrollees still experience food insecurity
  • Potentially increases the GPA and graduation rate of food insecure students
  • Raises awareness about the food pantry and food waste

Student Leaders

Fall 2017: Mason Conley, Goeun Kim, Mark Matheu, Amy Mauleon, Katherine Rojas, Bryan Ruvalcaba

The Project

Students from the Food Drive project in the Spring of 2017 identified that the food pantry had a need for donation bins with easily identifiable labeling. Previously, there was only 1 food donation bin stored in the Lighthouse Cafe. It was being used as a trashcan.

Old food donation bin was used as a trashcan.

The Fall 2017 student leaders took over this idea and wrote a proposal, worked with stakeholders and presented their proposal to a committee. The students obtained funding for the purchase, assembly and installation of 8 sturdy food donations bins. In addition to the food bins, the students also obtained funding to purchase a wagon to make it easier to collect the food. The wagon and bins have been purchased and assembled. The CI Dolphin Pantry will maintain this project by collecting the food from the bins and redistributing the items at the pantry.

Proposed locations for the bins and an advertisement for the bins created by the Fall 2017 group.

Video About the Project

Acknowledgements

Thanks to the following individuals for their support and guidance:

  • Honey Krueger, Director of the Food Pantry
  • Deborah Gravelle, Director of Health and Wellness
  • Ed Lebioda, Associate Vice President of Health and Wellness and Student Affairs
  • Gina Matibag, Administrative Analyst
  • Coleen Barsley, Sustainability & Operations Analyst
  • Professor Simone Aloisio, Chair of the Chemistry Department

 References

  • Crushfield, R. and Maguire, J. (2018). CSU Basic Needs Initiative: Study of Student Basic Needs January 2018. Retrieved from https://www2.calstate.edu/impact-of-the-csu/student-success/basic-needs-initiative/Documents/BasicNeedsStudy_phaseII_withAccessibilityComments.pdf

 

  • Dubick, J.; Mathews, B.; Cady, C. (2016). Hunger on campus: The challenge of food insecurity for college students. Retrieved from http://studentsagainsthunger.org/wp-content/uploads/2016/10/Hunger_ On_Campus.pdf
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