Unexpected Population and Their Needs

We often don’t think about college kids going hungry but we don’t often consider that college populations are very diverse. All ages, backgrounds, income levels, and needs. Unfortunately, we do have students right here in our community going without food and resources at Roane State Community College. HOWEVER, the school is fighting to ensure that their students are not going without. 

The Food Pantry at Roane State has been in operation for 4 years. During the fall semester they served an average of 41 students a week who came to the pantry to shop for a week’s worth of groceries for their families. They fed 120 persons a week, on average, including spouses, children, and elders housed with the students. 

The pantry is open to any RSCC student every Monday 10:00 a.m. until 12:00 p.m.; Tuesday  11:00 a.m. until 1:00 p.m.; and Wednesday evenings for our night students. It’s also available every day of the week by appointment for personal shopping.

Classes begin next week for the spring semester and with increasing enrollment, they expect demand for groceries to continue to soar. High gas prices and inflation have hit commuting college students hard, and many of our students are having a difficult time making ends meet. 

“Our students are hungry now, all the time,” says Sue Byrne, pantry volunteer.

The pantry is a partnership between First Presbyterian Church of Oak Ridge (serving as as Agent, raising funds, delivering groceries,  and providing volunteers to staff the pantry), Second Harvest who supplies high quality food at highly discounted prices, and Roane State Community College who provides onsite space for the pantry, access to the students, and an on-site liaison, Mariella Akers.

Nearly half of the students at Roane State are considered to be non-traditional students. This means they have been out of school for a while. Many have young children at home, are working a full-time job or two part-time jobs to pay their rent and bills while attending school. 

70% of Roane State students are eligible for Pell grants, indicating a household income level at or below poverty level.

RSCC has gained renown for its health sciences programs and many of our students are on track to become dental technicians, x-ray technicians, nurses, or physical therapists. 

The students at Roane State Community College are the future workforce in Anderson County. For example, 85% of the employees at Covenant Healthcare have come through the Roane State Community College health sciences programs.

The college has an array of interventions aimed at helping students complete their programs on time with minimum debt. The food pantry is one of the interventions. 

These students are running a tight race to complete a health sciences degree before their resources are depleted. RSCC is at least able to take food insecurity off the table. 

At the pantry, students can shop for frozen meat, cheese, breads, fresh produce and a wide variety of canned and boxed goods. The students select their food just like in a grocery store.