Food insecurity is one of the most important social determinants of health, but many may not be aware of how many veterans and other students attending the region’s colleges – and their families – are affected by this problem. The Community Health Fund (CHF) became aware of it in mid-2016, shortly after Los Medanos College (LMC) launched a food pantry and began to forge a relationship with the Food Bank of Contra Costa & Solano. Around the same time, California State University East Bay (CSUEB) was expanding its main campus pantry to its Concord campus. All three entities expressed interest in exploring ways to collaborate.

To facilitate this collaboration, in August 2017, the CHF named the Food Bank, LMC and CSUEB-Concord beneficiaries of a $30,000 Executive Director discretionary grant. The organizations used the grant to partner with La Piana Consulting to develop a health initiative aimed at maintaining and enhancing each college’s respective food pantry services in 2018, while also exploring the feasibility of a formal partnership to increase food security among the region’s college students and their families. In the ensuing 16 months, the organizations created and refined their action plan and began its implementation.

CSUEB-Concord:

• Created additional space for food storage and refrigeration
• Purchased a refrigerator
• Trained faculty, staff and students about food resources on and off campus
• Contracted with the Food Bank for food delivery service to campus
• Expanded outreach efforts by:
  • Increasing on-campus pop-up pantries
  • Enhancing the campus website and social media to include pantry program and external food insecurity resources
  • Targeting messaging to high need students via the financial aid department

LMC:

• Hired a part-time program assistant
• Extended existing pantry hours from two days per week to four days per week
• Expanded outreach and education
• Added fresh food distribution
• Contracted with the Food Bank for food delivery service to campus

The Food Bank:

• Hired a part-time college pantry coordinator
• Supported LMC and CSUEB-Concord efforts to ensure continuation of their respective pantry programs and expansion planning
• Partnered with LMC and CSUEB-Concord to enhance on-campus CalFresh enrollment
• Developed student-focused collateral materials
• Worked with each campus to establish fresh food and produce distribution
• Added Diablo Valley College (DVC) and John F. Kennedy University (JFKU) to the collaborative

In 2019, the CHF provided an additional $114,893 to this project to enable the Food Bank, LMC and CSUEB-Concord and DVC to implement the second year of their collaborative plan action.

CSUEB-Concord aims to increase student access by:

• Partnering with the Contra Costa Public Health Department to establish classes focused on food preparation and shopping for healthy food on a student budget
• Increasing pantry hours to serve more students
• Expanding CalFresh outreach & enrollment
• Exploring the feasibility of establishing a demonstration kitchen and partnering with master gardeners to establish a campus community garden

LMC expects to:

• Increase the number of food pantry staff
• Increase the number of pop-up pantries at its Pittsburg campus
• Launch a pop-up pantry program at the current Brentwood campus to build momentum toward the opening of a permanent pantry location at the new campus scheduled to open in summer 2020
• Make healthy snack food available in the college’s Tutoring Center

DVC aims to ensure viability for its newly established Food Pantry by:

• Hiring staff
• Developing a marketing strategy
• Developing a data tracking system
• Increasing CalFresh enrollment
• Establishing a meal support program
• Explore the need for establishing a pantry at its San Ramon campus

The Food Bank will continue to support this effort by providing technical assistance and coordinating quarterly collaborative meetings of the participants, including the addition of Contra Costa College and Cal Maritime. Specifically, the Food Bank will:

• Retain its College Pantry Coordinator
• Continue its support for CalFresh Outreach by providing materials, training, and staff onsite as needed
• Create a Student Resource Guide to connect the participants with other food resources and social support services in the County
• Establish a site at JFKU and expand the program to at least one adult school