Misericordia University Receives Pennsylvania Hunger-Free Campus Grant

Misericordia University Receives Pennsylvania Hunger-Free Campus Grant

Misericordia University was recently awarded the Pennsylvania Hunger-Free Campus Grant for $20,000 on behalf of the Pennsylvania Department of Education.

The Ruth Matthews Bourger Women with Children Program (BWWC) is part of a campus-wide collaboration with Mission Integration and Student Life departments to lead hunger efforts across campus. The program aims to sustain and expand the University’s on-campus food pantry, The McAuley Market, to serve all students campus-wide. The grant will help expand the inventory in the market and consistently replace popular and necessary items in the pantry. Additionally, the BWWC program aims to create and establish marketing materials to increase awareness of the McAuley Market and related resources on campus.  

Katherine Pohlidal, director of the Ruth Matthews Bourger Women with Children Program, explains how this grant will help the entire campus community, “As Misericordia proudly holds a PA Hunger-Free Campus designation, this grant award empowers our entire campus community, including our administration, faculty, staff, and students to remain committed to addressing food insecurity on all fronts. The campus sustains an array of programming and initiatives to help our students with food equity, and the university recognizes that a campus-wide collaboration steeped in our mission remains at the forefront of institutional priorities.”

Additionally, the grant will help develop some of the University’s newer initiatives through the Mission, Ministry & Service Office to ensure food justice on campus. Such programs include a weekly fresh fruit giveaway initiative and a student-led mobile food cart program.

“As we develop our own sustainable and comprehensive food access model for our campus, funding will be applied in a multitude of ways. From student-run food carts and fresh produce giveaways to enhanced equipment for our food pantry and support to access the SNAP subsidy, it is a multi-layered approach to address students’ basic needs that will make the deepest impact,” explained Pohlidal.

The PA Hunger-Free Campus Initiative began in 2022. As stated in the grant: “In 2023-24, the work continues to build a coalition of colleges and universities focused on addressing hunger and other basic needs for their students; creating opportunities for connection among student hunger advocates; providing resources and strategies for campuses; and supporting opportunities to apply for grants related to addressing food insecurity.”

Misericordia University is dedicated to increasing food justice for all students, faculty, and staff. They are also dedicated to breaking down the stigma surrounding food insecurity and increasing education across campus. Pohlidal stresses, “For the Women with Children Program, holding this designation means we must remain acutely aware that our students may encounter challenges along the way, whether traditional, adult learner, student parent or commuter. As a campus community, we can all agree, hunger should not be one of them. We are thankful that this Pennsylvania State funding will support us in that goal.”

For more information on the McAuley Market, Click Here, and for more information on the Misericordia University Women with Children Program, Click Here.