17.5% of Yuma residents live in poverty. Data from Feeding America suggests that 18.8% of Yumans have limited or uncertain access to adequate food.
While there are resources available throughout the community to help combat food insecurity, college students at Arizona Western College have special opportunities to attain food, clothes, and other necessities right on campus.
KAWC’s Mack Schwitzing spoke with Executive Director of Student Resource Services Laura Sandigo about The Cubby, a food pantry and closet located on AWC’s Yuma campus.
“We have students that come in every day...we are getting new students all the time,” - Laura Sandigo
“We have students that come in every day...we are getting new students all the time,” said Sandigo. She believes the Cubby’s new location in AWC’s newly constructed MAC building has brought more awareness to the resource.
The Cubby is available to all students attending college in Yuma, including local branches of Arizona’s public universities.
“[If] you are an employee at AWC and you want to do a payroll deduction, that would be fabulous,” Sandigo explains. The Cubby uses those funds to purchase perishables, which deplete quickly between restocks.
Donation boxes will be set up around AWC’s Yuma Campus this October. Employees and the Yuma community are invited to donate food, clothing, toiletries, and school supplies.
For more information on The Cubby, visit www.azwestern.edu/student-life/the-cubby.
