The George Washington University is combating food insecurity for students by partnering with Swipe Out Hunger, an organization dedicated to fighting hunger among college students. The campaign continues the university’s collaboration with the national nonprofit since its Covid-era inception in 2020. GW’s 2023 campaign seeks to end student hunger by promoting student donations of meal swipes or dining dollars, providing a food pantry for in-need students and financial aid from the Abrams Family Fund.
Swipe Out Hunger is the leading nonprofit working to combat college student hunger. The campaign currently partners with over 600 colleges across the United States and Canada in helping them implement anti-hunger policies within universities.
The George Washington University began its partnership with the nonprofit in 2020. As a result, GW started to allow students and employees to donate their unused GWorld funds, the campus cash used at the university’s cafeterias around campus. Donations are evenly split between the university’s food pantry and the Abrams Family Fund, a grant that provides emergency GWorld funding for students in need.
GW’s food pantry, also known as The Store, has been combating student hunger at the university since its founding in 2017, operating as a student-run pantry.
Anna Razvi is the president of The Store, a current junior at GW who joined as a freshman “wanting to get involved with a public health-oriented student organization that made a real impact.” Anna credits The Store for making a real difference for students and says that the rate of students at GW facing food insecurity is “even higher compared to the national average on college campuses…we [The Store] had over 800 shoppers last semester.” The Store is located in the basement of District House, one of the university dorms and cafeterias, and is open to any student via application. It supplies students with school supplies, clothing, personal hygiene items and perishable and non-perishable foods.
The campaign draws the attention of university students looking to give back. Roxanne Parker, a sophomore at GW, sees the Swipe Out Hunger Campaign as “a good use for my dining cash, since I prefer to cook anyways.” Requests for meal swipes are made through the Meal Swipe Request Form on the official GW Dining page. GWorld cash donations can be made through the GET app, the university’s mobile platform.
Leave a Reply