CUNY Chancellor Félix V. Matos Rodríguez and Baruch College President S. David Wu visited the Bearcat Food Pantry at Baruch College to support a food drive led by the college’s Public Safety Office. The initiative, called “Give Back to Our Bearcats,” resulted in the collection of 800 food items such as pasta and soup packets, which were delivered and stocked at the pantry with help from student volunteers.
This event comes after Chancellor Matos Rodríguez announced new funding for CUNY’s more than 20 campus food pantries, aiming to provide additional supplies due to ongoing disruptions in the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP).
“We know that what happens to students outside the classroom impacts what happens inside it. This is especially true when it comes to hunger,” said CUNY Chancellor Félix V. Matos Rodríguez. “By providing a critical lifeline to those in need, resources like the Bearcat food pantry play a critical role in CUNY’s efforts to dismantle barriers and drive student success.”
“Caring for our students is a shared responsibility across our entire campus community,” said Baruch College President S. David Wu. “I am proud of our Public Safety team for leading this important food drive, and I am grateful to everyone who contributed with such generosity. Together, we help ensure that no student has to choose between meeting basic needs and pursuing their education.”
The Bearcat Food Pantry was created in 2022 with support from the Carroll and Milton Petrie Foundation. It offers canned vegetables, rice, beans, cereal, olive oil, canned tuna, dairy products, frozen meat, as well as kosher and halal options. Students who lack regular access to food can also request a “Grab and Go” bag containing three small meals.
All CUNY students and employees can use any campus pantry year-round regardless of campus affiliation or income level. From January through October this year, there were over 156,000 visits across all CUNY pantries. Funding from the New York City Council has supported these pantries along with programs that deliver fresh produce boxes through partnerships like GrowNYC.
A 2022 survey by Healthy CUNY found that about 40% of students—around 110,000 people—experienced low or very low food security at that time. A recent Robin Hood report showed that more than one-third of adult New Yorkers have struggled financially to meet household food needs in recent years.
The City University of New York serves nearly 240,000 undergraduate and graduate students across its campuses throughout New York City’s five boroughs. More information about CUNY can be found at https://www.cuny.edu.
