The Executive Cabinet and the Student Body Vice-President Dalia Calvillo have steadfastly worked to provide supplemental programs to fight food insecurity by creating the “Ending Owl’s Hunger” (EOH) program. 

The project includes installing new food pantries in residence halls, the expansion of offerings in the Beyond Food Pantry, and the purchase of fresh warm meal swipes to provide dining hall meals to students in need. 

“The expansion of the Beyond Food program, combined with the addition of the Owls Ending Hunger Act, will work to provide important resources to food insecure students at a University-Wide level,” said Logan Slaughter, SG vice president’s executive assistant.

Food insecurity has been a factor that interferes with student success in many areas. In 2021, there were a total of 11,550 students out of the 28,129 applicants who included “food insecurity” as a factor to their need for the Emergency Grant provided by FAU, according to the bill written by SG. 

“It is important to combat food insecurity on our campus because no student should worry about going to bed with an empty stomach,” Calvillo said. “Student hunger should not be a problem that FAU students should be facing, and we are doing everything in our hands to put an end to student hunger.”

The implementation of the EOH will be of great benefit for Boca Raton residents and commuter students who do not have access to a meal by it being provided with Activities & Services funds.

SG purchased mini food pantries for all nine residential halls. SG hopes they will be installed by Jan. 13 and stocked as the university receives numerous donations from the Parking Citation Forgiveness (PCF) program on a daily basis.

“Our team has been working on this project for about six months now, and I am so proud that it will finally be accessible to students this Spring semester,” said Serena Bruno, university wide marketing director. 

Calvillo added that SG is happy that the program is ready to launch this month. She continued to explain that Business Services is printing coupon books for the EOH meal plans and that SG is waiting for the coupons to be ready for pickup.

Calvillo also said that the President’s Administrative Cabinet is working on other free-accessible programs for FAU students including Free Grammarly Premium, which will be ready to launch soon. The Grammarly Premium program will be available for 5,000 students on a first-come-first-serve basis.

SG also encourages students to take advantage of the PCF.

“Not only does this program aid students financially, but it also provides the opportunity for great growth to the food pantries on each of our campuses,”concluded Slaughter. 

Sofia De La Espriella is a staff writer for the University Press. For information regarding this or other stories, email sdelaespriel2022@fau.edu or message her on Instagram @sofidelaespriella.