The Fresno State Student Cupboard and The Big Fresno Fair will hold the fourth “Feed the Need” food drive on Wednesday.
Two drives — one at the Fresno Fairgrounds and another at Fresno State’s Red Lot (entrance on Barstow Avenue, just west of Cedar Avenue) — will take place from 7 a.m. to 7 p.m.
Feed the Need is a food drive in which community members and students can donate canned food items that will benefit the Fresno State Student Cupboard, a food pantry opened weekly that gets over 4,600 student visits each month.
A person who brings 10 or more items can get one free admission ticket to The Big Fresno Fair that is good for any day. There is a limit of four tickets per car.
Jessica Medina, coordinator of the Food Security Project, plays a big role in the food drive. She stated that 43.7 percent of Fresno State students surveyed have food insecurity, so the biggest benefit of this food drive would be to help students in need.
“It’s really hard for our students if they’re experiencing any level of food insecurities. It’s hard to study. It’s hard to focus in classes. And to not know where that next meal is coming from is extremely difficult,” said Medina. “What it means to us is being able to stock those shelves for our students, which is really important.”
Not only will people be able to get a ticket for the fair, there will be many other partners involved with the drive such as Maya Cinemas, Dutch Bros. and the athletics department. Participants will be eligible for bags of popcorn from Maya Cinemas, free coffee from from Dutch Bros and the athletics department will hand out football tickets at random.
The Student Cupboard is still looking for volunteers to help out with the drive. Students can sign up on the cupboard’s website if interested.
“Load up your car, bring out those cans,” Medina said. “We are really excited to be able to partner with The Big Fresno Fair and everyone again this year to be able to get the shelves stocked here at the Student Cupboard so that together we could help feed students success.”
