Full Cart

According to a 2019 AAC&U survey, more than 60 percent of college students in the U.S. had experienced food insecurity within the past 30 days or housing insecurity within the past year. Most Rio Salado College (RSC) students take courses online and, therefore, may not travel to RSC sites during the course of a semester. For this reason, and to assist students who are faced with financial challenges and not able to buy food, RSC initiated a partnership with Full Cart to provide food packages to RSC students regardless of their place of residence. The RSC family has embraced this partnership and the college is on track to assist hundreds of students from across the country. Furthermore, the innovative partnership has had a positive impact on student success and retention: Nearly 70 percent of students who received emergency food assistance have remained enrolled and successfully completed. This project has provided equitable access to food for our students and ensured that students do not go hungry.

Innovators: Melanie Abts, Shelley Dennis, Michael Hodgins, Mitra Mehraban, Greg Pereira

See district finalists here.