When Suffolk County Community College issued a call for donations to employees in early October to help keep all three of its food pantries stocked, Leanne Warshauer, assistant academic chair of the English department, immediately emailed her department about helping–and the response, she said, was “an enthusiastic yes.”

“That was on Friday,” Warshauer said in an email. “By Monday morning, the first bags of food appeared in my office.”

Over the next two weeks, donations continued to pour in. The department’s collection eventually filled two shopping carts’ worth of food, which Warshauer delivered to the Ammerman Campus food pantry.

In her Oct. 3 brief to college employees, Vice President of Student Affairs Patricia Munsch noted that many students and their families have been struggling to meet basic nutritional needs and have relied on the pantries to get through the month.

To meet this growing demand, the college requested donations of frozen and shelf-stable items, encouraging offices, departments, and students clubs to organize drives to help provide students with consistent access to healthy, nutritious and free food options.

“Seeing Dr. Warshauer get involved so quickly reinforced how deeply our faculty care about student well-being,” Munsch said via email. “Their leadership and responsiveness set a wonderful example for others.”

Suffolk President Edward T. Bonahue praised Warshauer and the English department for answering the college’s call during a time of need.

“Our faculty across the campus are well aware of our students’ needs, and I applaud the English department for the action they’re taking to support both the students we see in class every day and the broader college community,” Bonahue said, responding in an email.

Irene Rios, CEO and executive dean of the Ammerman campus and vice president of academic affairs, described the department’s effort as “a powerful reminder of who we are as a campus community.”

“When faculty, staff, and students come together in service of others, we not only meet a very real need–we strengthen the bonds that make this college a place of care, compassion, and shared purpose,” Rios said in an email exchange.

Campus-wide Support

Since Munsch’s call for assistance, the pantry has seen “quite an uptick in donations,” said Thomas Law, counselor of student affairs and the officer in charge of the Ammerman campus food pantry.

Because of the many ways that students and faculty have been able to donate, it’s difficult to measure the exact number of contributions, Law explained in a Zoom conversation. Some donations are delivered directly by departments, while others are collected by student volunteers at the pantry.

“Because the pantry is operated on student volunteers, I don’t always see the actual physical donations,” Law said. “But they’re instructed to accept the donations, thank them, and then pack it away.”

The English department hasn’t been alone in contributing to the campus’ support efforts this semester. The Ammerman Campus Counseling Center recently completed its own food drive, headed by Dean Tania Velazquez, assistant dean of student affairs. In addition, the Campus Activities Board and the Nursing Club have launched drives to collect clothing and coats, respectively.

More than a dozen departments across the college have collected food to donate to the pantry, Law said.

“I am very proud to say, our clubs and student leaders remain ever mindful of their peer’s basic needs,” said Edward F. Martinez, associate dean of student affairs. “Additionally, our clubs and student leaders always consider what they can do to support their fellow students throughout the year.”

Munsch echoed this sentiment, praising the campus community’s commitment to meeting students’ needs.

“Together, these efforts show that we prioritize not only academic success but also the basic needs and support of every student,” she said.

Support Throughout the Holiday Season

The Ammerman campus food pantry has also committed to supporting the campus community during the holiday season. 

It hosted a Thanksgiving food distribution on Nov. 24 and 25, offering turkey breasts, boxes of fixings, and ShopRite gift cards on a first-come, first-serve basis.

Many of the turkeys were provided by Long Island Cares, one of the pantry’s partners, Law said. Much of the food being distributed during their Thanksgiving drive came from faculty members.

When faculty members spend a certain amount at participating supermarkets–including ShopRite, Stop & Shop, and BJ’s–within a designated time frame, they receive a free item such as a whole turkey, chicken, or ham, which many choose to donate to the food pantry, Law explained.

Food insecurity remains a year-round issue at SCCC. When the SUNY system instituted a mandate in 2019 that each of its schools have a food pantry, Law noted, “we were well ahead of the game.”

“It’s a labor of love, and it’s all for a good cause,” he said about the pantry. “It brings people together, especially during the holidays, and it’s a beautiful thing. 

Warshauer said the English department plans to continue its efforts and hold another food drive in the spring.

“The food pantry is an important campus resource; no student at Suffolk should be going hungry or worrying about feeding their family,” she said.