April 28, 2022 - Bloomsburg, PA
First Lady Frances Wolf visited Bloomsburg University's Basic Needs Shoppe - a food and basic needs pantry designed to support Bloomsburg students - and joined students and staff for The Realities of Food Insecurity: A Discussion on Hunger, Policy, and Advocacy, a panel discussion on college hunger. First Lady Wolf addressed the growing need for resources for students experiencing food and basic needs insecurity and discussed Governor Tom Wolf's proposed $1 million investment to address college hunger and $200 million investment to create the Nelly Bly Tuition Program in the 2022-23 state budget."Hunger should never be what holds someone back from achieving in higher education," said First Lady Wolf. "By working together to adopt programs like Hunger-Free Campus and the Nelly Bly Tuition Program, we can solve this issue on college campuses."An estimated 36 percent of students know someone who dropped out of college due to food insecurity during the pandemic. Roughly 52 percent of students who faced food or housing insecurity in 2020 did not apply for support because they did not know how. Bloomsburg University is challenging these statistics with its Office of Access and Success’ Act 101 Program. Act 101 provides supports targeting first-generation Bloomsburg University students who are demonstrating risk factors that will increase the likelihood of not completing a four-year college degree. Act 101 serves nearly 300 students.
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