By Juanita Davies
Despite lack of awareness and under-use of Rye’s student food bank, organizers are expecting more students in the coming years as tuition fees increase.”
“There is a growing need for the food bank,” said Chuck McFarland, a food bank committee volunteer. “With the proposed cutbacks, we need to try and work out all the bugs in the program, because it will come to a point where this is something that could be supporting a lot more students than it is now.”
Yevgenia Tartakovsky, a Ryerson student and food bank volunteer, conducted a survey of the food bank to measure student awareness. According to the survey, only 17 per cent of Ryerson students know about the food bank and less than 4 per cent know where it is located.
Advertising for the food bank has been minimal, and McFarland blames this on their small budget.
Although only 11 students used the food bank last semester, Tartakovsky believes that if tuition fees go up, so will the demand. She said awareness is low because the service is fairly new and most needy students are too embarrassed to use it.
McFarland said most students list dwindling OSAP money as their reason for using the bank.
“The people that come in, some are embarrassed and they’re like ‘Oh my gosh, I can’t believe I’m using a food bank.’ and it’s very difficult for them,” he said.
Charity Callahan, who has been the coordinator of the food bank since September, said that location adds to the awareness problem.
The food bank is tucked away in a corner of the business building basement, at the back of the main cafeteria. It’s a small room, but the walls are lined with many shelves of food.
“We’re in a basement stuck in a corner out of everyone’s view,” Callahan said.
The food bank committee has been trying to move, but nothing has developed, because competition for space on campus is high.
Callahan organized a publicity campaign last November to promote the food bank and raise money for advertising.
They had a table set up outside the food bank where free cookies and hot chocolate were being given out, but only 30 people came by during the campaign week.
“Charity brought in about 500 white spruce trees and tried selling them for $1, however sales were dismal. We still have about 100 of the trees in the office, and pretty much the rest have died off,” McFarland said.
The committee plans to make improvements to the food bank to make it more “friendly and hospitable.” Rugs, furniture and brighter lights are all being added to improve the bank’s appearance and make students feel more comfortable when they go in to use it.
The committee also decided to have the food bank open four days this semester, as opposed to last semester, when it was only open for two days. The hours of operation are Mondays, Tuesdays, Thursdays and Fridays from 1 p.m. to 6 p.m.
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