Preparing bags of food for members of the Ammerman Campus community are, from left, students Abeera Sajid, MariaJose Luna, Shihab Ahmed, Desmond Scott and Kyle Goldman as well as FA member Carla Sutherland. (photo by Tom Law)

"We're extremely grateful for the FA donating this year to the Ammerman food pantry," Tom Law (Student Affairs) said. "The funding certainly came in handy this year."

Law works with PA Carla Sutherland and the Community Service Club to help meet the Governor Cuomo's 2018 mandate that all SUNY colleges have a food pantry or stigma-free access to food for students in need.

Community Service Club President Abeera Sajid helped pack and distribute over 268 bags of food this year, mostly to student support services, Educational Opportunity Program (EOP) students and Campus Kids. "Helping others is one of my passions," Sajid noted, "giving me an opportunity to stay positive and contribute."

Students in the student club Activist Coalition at Eastern (ACE) work with honors students to fill the food pantry each November. Of the fifteen students who volunteered this year, shown above are Aziza Brunson, left, Harry O'Brien and Amna Essani. (photo by Cynthia Eaton)

Each year I work with my student club, Activist Coalition at Eastern, and with honors students to help fill the Eastern food pantry using the $400 donation from the FA. We make our annual pilgrimage buy provisions and fill our carts with food and personal care items identified by the Campus Activities office, then return to campus to stuff the pantry.

Honors student Aziza Brunson was thrilled to be a part of the project this semester. Brunson said, "No matter what someone's outside appearance exudes, I have learned not to make assumptions. You never know. So I take the time to get to know them, and I think having our food pantry with open access makes it less intimidating for students to get that extra help. I've been in situations like that. It's not easy to ask for help. So I try to give back no matter what position I'm in, and this pantry donation genuinely warms my heart."

	FA member Frank Salerno (ETU, Grant) works with student Michelle McNally to stock the Grant Campus food pantry. (photo by Pete DiGregorio)

The Grant Campus food pantry is the longest standing at the college. Sister Mary Ann Borrello has run the food pantry at Grant since the mid-1970s, which resulted in her receiving a NYSUT Community Service Award in 2012.

This year Borrello was ably assisted by Frank Salerno of the Educational Technology Unit (ETU) who worked hard along with student Michelle McNally. They too went shopping and then unloaded boxes of canned goods and other essential pantry items.

The FA knows students cannot focus on their academics if they're hungry or are too worried about working more hours so they and their families don't go hungry. We're happy to be able to contribute to each campus food pantry every fall and we thank our members for their full support of this annual initiative.

If you have students in need, here are the contacts to share with them:

• Ammerman — Tom Law · lawt@sunysuffolk.edu · 631-451-4838
• Eastern — Denny Teason · teasond@sunysuffolk.edu · 631-548-2531
• Grant — Mary Ann Borrello · borrelm@sunysuffolk.edu · 631-851-6702