Raritan Valley Community College
IN-24: Innovation A

Our Purpose The term food insecurity is used to indicate individuals who lack access to enough food to live healthy lives. More than one million residents in New Jersey (aprox. 11.8% of the state's population) are food insecure. When a person is forced to deal with hunger, there is a direct correlation between their performance in class, work, and overall well-being. The high cost of living, paired with stressful modern lifestyles, leads to difficulty in making food a priority especially when surrounded by quick inexpensive alternatives such as fast food. No matter the reason, the RVCC Food Pantry is a project created in hopes of offering RVCC students and faculty a convenient location to access ingredients for healthy meals in efforts to decrease the number of Food Insecure individuals within the community. ​About Us The RVCC Food Pantry was created by members of the Student Nurse Association to address the growing concern of food insecurity among college students. Our goal is to greatly reduce hunger from the student body; once this basic need is met, a student's focus can be shifted back onto themselves. We hope to bring a positive service to the school that will have a domino effect across the entire campus. Food items will differ based on food donations and availablity. ​​​​Who Do We Serve? ​RVCC Food Pantry is open to students, staff members, and faculty of Raritan Valley Community College. No appointments are necessary to use the food pantry. There is no limit in regards to how long anyone may utilize our services. First time visitors will be asked to complete a liability waiver which will be kept confidential. Patrons of the food pantry are encouraged to visit the green roof at the student center to gather their own fresh vegetables.