According to a study commissioned by Cal State University Chancellor Timothy White in February 2015, one in five CSU students go without consistent meals. Since then, Cal State East Bay has been on a mission to find solutions to this problem.

In October of 2016, Cal State East Bay opened up its first food pantry on the Hayward campus to help students with their essential needs. CSU East Bay planned to open a pantry in the administration building of the Concord campus in February, but recent storms caused the grand opening to be postponed until the inspections were fully complete. Initially the pantry was supposed to have their grand opening on December of 2016, but that was pushed back.

The pantry itself receives food from the Food Bank of Contra Costa and Solano. Students who would like to visit the food pantry can make an appointment through BaySync. To make an appointment through BaySync, you will have to first sign up with your netID and once you sign up, you will click on the “H.O.P.E. Program” tab and then select the appointment time that works best for you to visit the pantry.

The food pantries are run by a group called “Pioneers for H.O.P.E.” whose mission is to help students with their concerns and welfare. Such concerns that they have been focusing on are making sure that students have access to food, temporary housing for students, as well as donation drives for students in need.

Alex Baker, case management coordinator at “Pioneers for H.O.P.E.” told The Pioneer that the surrounding area of the room had been flooded due to the storms, which led to inspections to make sure that there was no mold or mildew within the walls to not contaminate the food.

They had a soft opening for the Concord pantry in February, however, and students have been able to go into the pantry and receive their food. The only difference is that there hasn’t been a “ribbon cutting” according to Baker. The official ribbon cutting will take place once all of the inspections are fully complete.