Nov 24, 2021
UNR Students Give Back and Are Helped in Season of Need (Audio)
Hunger is still prevalent around the world, including here in Reno. One of the University of Nevada, Reno’s volunteer clubs, Circle K International, or CKI, recently partnered with the Food Bank of Northern Nevada for a food drive which just ended. Serenity Liessmann reports on how students within the UNR community are helping but are also being helped.
On campus as elsewhere in Reno, the holidays are a time when people want to give back to their community. The Food Bank of Northern Nevada has their busiest season during the holidays.
Until the end of December, they will have around two to three hundred food drives during the fall season. The holidays are the center point of this organization since that is when people are thinking about food insecurity and wanting to give back.
UNR’s volunteer club Circle K International, or CKI, was one of the groups this year partnering with the Food Bank of Northern Nevada.
“I went on the website for Food Bank of Northern Nevada, and I just looked at the pages of how to help. And there’s like a section for a food and fund drive. So I just went on there, it was really simple actually,” explained organizer Jasmine Baik.
CKI has focused on the hungry and the unhoused this semester. The group has worked on other projects like the Reno Burrito Project, where members will roll burritos then go out into the streets to give healthy food to people in need and assist with other supplies such as toiletries and clothing.
Sometimes those being helped are students themselves. It’s estimated nearly a quarter of current UNR students have experienced food insecurity at some point during their schooling. On campus, Pack Provisions is a pantry service that can be used by students to help meet needs like food and bathroom essentials.
“Pack Provision is one of our partner agencies,” explained Jocelyn Lantrip, the Director of Marketing and Communications of the Food Bank of Northern Nevada. “So, Pack Provisions and then there is also a pantry at TMCC and those, both of those can order food through the Food Bank of Northern Nevada. And then there are other things that the students can access that the Food Bank can help.”
Students can also reach out to the Food Bank of Northern Nevada to get help to apply for the government Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program, also known as SNAP.
