University of Lethbridge Students Union Food Bank looking to fill empty shelves

By Tim Kalinowski on October 15, 2021.

LETHBRIDGE HERALDtkalinowski@lethbridgeherald.com

The University of Lethbridge Students Union Food Bank is running out of food, and the ULSU is hoping to rely on the generosity of local donors to replenish its dwindling food stocks during its upcoming Feed or Famine Food Drive.
ULSU vice-president of Student Affairs, Amy Mendenhall, spoke to members of the Southern Alberta Council on Public Affairs during SACPA’s weekly YouTube livestream speaker series on Thursday to talk about the need and some of the issues driving hunger on campus.
“What do we need right now?” Mendenhall asked SACPA members rhetorically. “We need absolutely everything. Our food bank is running very empty, and we have a lot of students that need support.
“With the pandemic, and rising living costs, our students are struggling, and we need to make sure our food bank is stocked up and continues to be stocked up this year and beyond.”
The Feed or Famine Food Drive officially kicks off on Oct. 26, with food being collected until Nov. 4.
Mendenhall said November and December are typically the worst months for those experiencing hunger on campus as their initial student loan funds peter out, and Christmas costs loom.
There are other issues also potentially driving student hunger, said Mendenhall, such as poor accessibility to grocery stores by transit for those wanting to purchase healthier and lower cost foods. 
“It’s a huge issue,” she acknowledged. “We have talked about in the past having a bus to get groceries, but unfortunately it hasn’t been accessed as much as we wanted it to. So a lot of students I find who can’t go do use our food bank. It’s also a mobility issue. If you can go on the bus and get to a store, you also have to take those heavy groceries down to where you live. And the bus only comes to the front of the university; it doesn’t go anywhere else. 
“So mobility is a huge problem. We are aware. We have tried in the past to fix it, but because we didn’t have the best results it has kind of fizzled out.”
However, there are other factors of concern this year, stated Mendenhall: students are coming in with less money in their pockets due to a poor economy and a general lack of summer jobs for young people over the past two years.
“It was a real struggle, and the economy is still struggling,” she said. “The jobs are kind of coming back, but we had students that have had to do online education because of their health issues. They can’t work in the public right now, because it is not safe. So while we have students who want to work, and still work, but they have to put their health and safety first.”
Those wanting to support the the ULSU Feed or Famine Food Drive can email su.studentaffairs@uleth.ca or call 403-329-2222. The ULSU is accepting drop-off donations once again. 

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