The Food Assistance Fund

 “Thank you for sharing such an amazing gift. Times are hard for everyone right now, especially for students, and those who work full time. ”
In January 2023, nearly 6000 students attending one of the Maricopa Community Colleges,  participated in the national Hope Center #RealCollege Survey, the nation’s largest, most well-established assessment of students’ basic needs. The results indicated that  43% of survey respondents experienced limited or uncertain availability of nutritionally adequate and safe food, or the ability to acquire such food in a socially acceptable manner in the prior 30 days.
 
Other findings include: 
  • 62% of survey respondents experienced at least one of the following: food insecurity, housing insecurity, or homelessness
  • 53% of survey respondents experienced one or more challenges that prevented them from having a safe, affordable, and consistent place to live in the previous year.
  • 14% of survey respondents did not have a fixed, regular, and adequate place to live at some point during the previous year.

 

The Maricopa County Community College District (MCCCD) is working diligently to turn the tide on the issue of hunger and food insecurity among its student population.

 
The Maricopa Community Colleges Foundation is working together with MCCCD to bring the issue of hunger and food insecurity among our student population to the forefront by encouraging our supporters and local businesses to help expand programs and services at each college, so that our students can focus on completing their classwork, versus focusing on where they are going to get their next meal. These efforts are critical to the academic success for many of our students

Food insecurity can be a barrier to student success. Check out this Fox 10 News interview with Brian Spicker, President and CEO, Maricopa Community Colleges Foundation and Dr. Ray Ostos, District Director, Student Affairs, Maricopa Community Colleges, from the Mesa Market at Mesa Community College. Support for these programs, like the grant we received from The Kroger Co. Foundation in partnership with Fry’s Food Stores, allow for our students to focus on their education and not their next meal.