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In an effort to curb the use of the Knights’ Table Food Pantry by non-students, the Basic Needs Center on the San Diego City College campus has implemented a new check-in system, effective Jan. 21, 2025.
The previous check-in system of providing a student ID did not immediately verify students’ current or future enrollment. This led to members of the community and/or former students utilizing the food pantry, according to Basic Needs Coordinator Nydia Dominguez, though no specific numbers were provided.
“Although we scanned the student’s ID, it didn’t check for student status at all,” Dominguez said. “We assumed they were students but we would pull reports later and find that a lot of people were not students [and were] using the pantry.”
Under the new system, students are no longer required to show a student ID. Instead, students seeking a ready-to-eat salad or snack option will be asked to scan a QR code and provide their student ID number and MySDCCD portal password before entering the pantry.
Students are required to fill out an intake form to confirm eligibility before gaining access to the T-building. Once completed, students show the form to an attendant outside the pantry who is tasked with limiting capacity to 10 students at a time.
Inside the pantry, students have all the same options as previous semester and should note ready-to-eat meals are on a first-come first-served basis. Check-out is completed by showing items to the pantry staff for inventory purposes.
Nursing student Stella Escarcega noticed the check-in process was different than previous semesters but wasn’t inconvenienced by the changes.
“It’s a little different. It’s a process, but at the same time, it’s cool,” Escarcega said. “Providing this for us is amazing. Some of us don’t have the money to provide for food all of the time.”
The Knights’ Table Food Pantry has had many changes since its early days fighting student hunger and continues to be a valuable asset to students, offering no-cost meals, shelf stable goods, and hygiene/baby items.
Longer than usual wait-times may occur between peak hours of 11 a.m. – 1 p.m. while they work out the kinks of rolling out a new system.
“Obviously, we’re gonna get some people who are not totally happy but that’s totally normal,” Dominguez said. “We encourage students to keep an open mind. We’re assessing to see how it’s going. We don’t want people to be waiting all the time. If it’s not changing we will make changes as needed.”
Franchesca Valdes-Rankin is the on-site CalFresh Technician and liaison between the county and campus. She said a “significant” amount of non-students had used the pantry over the past year.
“It has been an issue since the pantry has opened,” Valdes-Rankin said. “99% of the people who are non-students using the pantry are not deceptive. Obviously, everyone needs food but it does prevent us from being able to serve students who, legislatively, our job is to serve.”
Basic needs support has long been available for currently enrolled students experiencing food insecurity at City College but hunger is not exclusively a student experience. Community members and students who are in need of emergency food assistance have additional resources available to them.
Community members can check with the San Diego County for more information, and students can check eligibility for CalFresh assistance in-person at the pantry or online by visiting the Knights’ Table Food Pantry’ Table website and may receive up to $291 per month depending on individual need.
Jimmy Tran, a student taking biology and statistics classes, is uncertain about his major. He is certain about one thing: how nice it is to have access to the pantry.
“It’s very nice to have,” Tran said. “Especially since everything’s way more expensive than it was a couple of years ago.”
Sav • Feb 13, 2025 at 6:50 pm
Good article, I am interested to see how the process will change students accessibility to the pantry.