ARC Food Pantry to remain open through at least Tuesday

March 16, 2020

Pictured here is Muhammad Alam, kinesiology major, as he helps unpack food at American River College food pantry on March 13, 2020, just days before the campus shutdown. Since then, the Beaver Food Pantry has continued to work remotely. (Photo by Emily Mello)

The Beaver Food Pantry at American River College campus will remain open through at least Tuesday, March 17 in light of the recent news that ARC’s campus will officially close down on March 18, according to an email sent out to ARC employees by Joshua Moon Johnson, dean of the Center for Leadership and Development at ARC.

On Tuesday, Chancellor of the Los Rios Community College District (LRCCD), Brian King, hosted a Facebook Live Q&A session to address questions regarding the campus shutdown. In the Q&A, King indicated that food pantries in the district will remain open as long as possible.

“We’re gonna continue to provide that service as long as we can,” King said, “and also acknowledge that if the food banks are not able to supply food to our pantries, we will be working to direct our students to where they can access food.”

On Thursday, March 12, the LRCCD notified all students, staff and employees via email that all on campus courses will be suspended due to growing concern about the spread of COVID-19, a novel coronavirus.

Since the campus will remain open through March 17, the ARC Food Pantry will do the same.

“We currently have a large supply of food (can soups, vegetables, pastas, rice, crackers, almonds, etc),” Johnson wrote in the email in his email to ARC staff. “We encourage you to pick up food and to bring bags if you can. Staff will also be available to answer any questions and provide information about CalFresh and other food resources.”

After learning that student worker jobs at ARC were in jeopardy due to the impending campus shutdown, student services supervisor Satya Chima was concerned about the well being of the students who use the food pantry as a resource.

“When we got news that our temporary classified and student employees would no longer be able to work during the campus during the campus closure, we were really concerned about people’s basic needs being met, because they will be out of a job and not being paid,” Chima said. “So we decided to send out a campus email so that temp classified and student employees can access our food pantry and get what they need.”

Students will be able to visit the Student Center to pick up food from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. through Tuesday.