The City University of New York has received $1 million from the City Council to address food insecurity among its students.
Last week, New York City Council Speaker Corey Johnson and City University of New York (CUNY) Chancellor Félix V. Matos Rodríguez announced the grant which will tackle student hunger at CUNY’s seven community colleges.
Borough of Manhattan Community College (BMCC), Bronx Community College (BCC), Hostos Community College, Kingsborough Community College (KBCC), LaGuardia Community College, Queensborough Community College (QCC) and Guttman Community College are the schools that are participating in the pilot program.
The program will support regular students including those with DACA status who all will get vouchers worth $400 that they can spend in campus cafeterias.
“College student hunger is a serious problem in New York City. CUNY students should be focused on learning and studying, not where their next meal is coming from,” said Speaker Johnson.
“We are one of the richest cities in the world but too many New Yorkers don’t have equitable access to healthy food. The Council is proud to fund this pilot so that more students have access to food instead of skipping meals to survive.”
To become eligible for the program, the students should be a resident of the five notified boroughs, have significant financial need and maintain a satisfactory grade point average. Students who completed at least 45 credits and first-year students will be given more priority.
7 US Cities Receive Grant to Tackle Food, Housing Insecurity Among Students