Rowan College of South Jersey took part in five-day initiative against student hunger last month.
The Feed the Future: Fight Student Hunger initiative began on Sept. 22, part of a statewide effort that is itself the result of a partnership between the Future Alumni Support Team, the New Jersey Council of County Colleges and several state community colleges.
The initiative is the result of a 2025 survey of community colleges across the state by the Hope Center for College, Community and Justice, which is associated with the nonprofit Congressional Hunger Center. The survey showed 39% of respondees are food insecure.
“At Rowan College of South Jersey, we understand that a student’s success is about more than just what happens in the classroom,” said Dr. Benden Rickards, interim president of the college. “Helping our students meet their basic needs, such as access to food, is critically important to ensuring they can complete their education and achieve their goals.
“We are proud to be a part of this collaborative statewide effort.”
Rowan’s hope is that the initiative will help raise funds to provide food for students at both its Gloucester and Burlington County campuses. Those interested in donating can go the website spotfund.com. All proceeds go to the college’s food pantry.
This hunger effort is the latest attempt Rowan has made to combat student food insecurity. In April, the college took part in a state forum with several organizations and students on how to best address the issue.
““We were proud to be asked by Lisa Pitz, director of Hunger Free New Jersey, to host today’s session, despite how sad it is that we’re all here to talk about food insecurity on college and university campuses,” then-Rowan president Frederick Keating noted at the time.
“But this is a necessary conversation, and I’m grateful to my colleagues for showing up and pledging themselves to a world where we take care of our students no matter what.”
