Food Closet feeds hungry, homeless students
Leilani Albano | 7-23-2010 | Comments |
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Today, UCLA student Diego Sepulveda opted for his favorite dinner item — Cup o’ Noodles.The Japanese soup — which is fused with pre-cooked noodles, monosodium glutomate and a bevy of seasonings — may not be the healthiest choice, but for students with little to no funds, it’s often the most popular.
“With the Food Closet, it allows me to not be hungry all the time,” said Sepulveda.
Sepulveda is among the dozens of UCLA students who receive free meals from the Food Closet. The Closet — a small storage space filled with boxes of dried food items including macaroni and cheese, as well as canned goods, granola bars and fruit juices — serves as a godsend for cash-strapped and homeless students.
"I highly depend on the food closet from day to day," said Sepulveda.
For many, the idea of a food bank at one of the country’s most prestigious and affluent universities is an oxymoron. At UCLA, average parent incomes for incoming freshmen hover at about $101,000 a year. But in today’s ailing economy, growing numbers of students are finding it harder to obtain financial aid or receive enough assistance to pay for their $10,000-a-year university fee.
Right: Food Closer founder Abdullah Jadallah with internship advisor Thuy Huynh.Senior Abdullah Jadallah says that has led some students to take drastic measures, including living in their cars, sleeping on campus and cutting back on eating. Jadallah opened the food bank two years ago when he heard about the need. The response, he says, has been positive.
"Students say: now I can worry about something else, I don't have to worry about food," said Jadallah.
Most of the food supplies at the Closet are surplus donations from campus events and local businesses. The newly implemented "Swipes for the Homeless" also allows students to donate to the food pantry using their unused meal plans.
Although food courts are located throughout UCLA, Jadallah says few are able to afford the dinner deals at campus restaurants. That is one reason why students — up to 50 a day — will come to the Food Closet for their meals.
Diego Sepulveda, who is an undocumented student, says the Food Closet has been extremely useful. Because he isn’t eligible for financial aid, the former Subway Restaurant employee found himself unable to afford housing and often skipped meals. That made it hard for him to concentrate on his studies.
"It's really hard to focus when I'm hungry," said Sepulveda. "So, a lot of times, just thinking about food or thinking about me about being hungry or my stomach grumbling while I am in class prevents me from paying attention, from excelling academically."
With the help of a private donor, Sepulveda now lives in his own apartment. And he receives free supplies of instant noodles, cereals and snack bars from the Food Closet for sustenance.
"Before I knew about the Food Closet I would go days without eating," said Sepulveda. "Now that I know about it, I'm able to use that as my food source."
Third-year student Yolanda Stephanie De-Loera has two jobs. But because she sends part of her paychecks home to help her family, she doesn’t have enough funds left over to buy groceries."I don’t have money most of the time to buy things at Ackerman because it’s so expensive," said De-Loera. "So I get my snacks, well my meals I guess, from the Food Closet, on a daily basis."
There are others students who have shared their stories of hunger in the Food Closet’s comment book, but chose to remain anonymous:
"Initially I thought I could handle school without eating, and started to pass out. When I heard about the Food Bank, at first I was skeptical but realized it was true. Thank you to all of you."
"I have a father who has been hospitalized. I am the breadwinner of my family. If it weren’t for the Food Closet, I would have quit school. Thank you."
"Currently, I am homeless, sleeping in my truck, attending school full time. If I didn’t have the food closet, I would have to settle for the $1 burrito at Taco Bell . I have no money to my name, I have no home, I am grateful to have the charity of others in the form of a Food Closet. Thank you for restoring my faith in humanity and making it possible to continue to working towards my dream of becoming my family’s first college graduate."
Students are able to fill their rumbling stomachs thanks to the Food Closet. But now the void is about to get bigger. The University of California announced earlier this year that it will raise its fees by 32 percent. Food Closet founder Abdullah Jadallah says the school plans to expand the food bank’s services by forming partnerships with other organizations.
Tags: education food closet homeless homelessness students ucla
