Meal swipe program to help students with food insecurities

By Hannah Newman

To address food insecurity on Rider’s campus, Broncs Against Hunger has partnered up with Swipe Out Hunger, allowing students to donate meal swipes to peers in need.

Broncs Against Hunger is a branch of Swipe Out Hunger, a program that pairs with colleges across the nation to end student hunger. This program was released at Rider during the fall of 2021 as a part of the Rider Resource Pantry.

Food insecurities among young adults have always been an issue, however, the pandemic has strengthened this conflict and continues to do so despite restrictions being lifted.

A recent statistic from the Hope Survey concluded that since 2020, one in three students attending a four-year university experience food insecurities.

At Rider, the demand for swipes is high and cannot be provided to every student that needs them. Broncs Against Hunger wishes to maximize the number of donated swipes and said they would like to make students more aware of the change they are capable of creating by donating their extra swipes that are oftentimes forgotten about.

Joan Liptrot, the director of service and civic engagement at Rider talked about the impact that students can potentially have on their peers.

“It’s such a shame because most students will not use their five guest meal swipes. They are paid for and they will be wasted. Meanwhile, a Rider student who is struggling is sitting in class hungry and wondering when they will be able to purchase food again,” said Liptrot.

During the fall semester, 36 swipes were donated and so far this semester, 25 were donated.

A donated guest meal swipe allows students in need to have full access to the restaurant options at Rider including Daly’s Dining Hall and Cranberry’s. This accessibility allows students to join their friends while they eat rather than having to be isolated.

Giulia Santisi, graduate assistant for service and civic engagement, mentioned her future goal for this program and the change that she wished to make possible.

“Over this next year through this program, I am hoping that all students that need this program can access it and we are able to give them the appropriate resources and [allow] them the meals that they need to succeed here at Rider,” said Santisi.

Rider is one of more than 140 colleges in 41 different states that are partnered with Swipe Out Hunger. During the 2020-21 school year, the program was able to give over 500,000 meals to students nationwide. The committee of Swipe Out Hunger at Rider hopes to inform the entire student body of this concern to bring assistance to students who are fighting to maintain sufficient grades while battling hunger.

Students can donate their swipes using the barcode below. Any questions on this matter can be emailed to Pantry@Rider.edu.