Food Support Service Highlight

A blurry image of various canned goods on a shelf. The cans, seemingly from different brands and types including tomatoes and sauce products, have indistinct labels due to lack of focus. The image evokes a general impression of a pantry shelf, reminiscent of those provided by local food support services.

Heightened food insecurity is a growing threat to students’ ability to access and excel in a post-secondary environment. WUSA’s Food Support Service (FSS) is one of 10 services that WUSA runs. Its mission is to support students at the University of Waterloo who may be struggling with food insecurity. Last year, FSS gave out over 1,600 hampers to students in need. It is funded by both WUSA and the Graduate Student Association (GSA), and supported by donations collected from various members of the campus community and the local food banks in the Kitchener-Waterloo region.  

This funding and donations are used to provide food to students through a hamper system. Any graduate or undergraduate Waterloo student can receive a hamper by going to the Turnkey Desk in the Student Life Center (SLC). Five types of generic hampers are available for pickup; meat, vegetarian, halal, kosher, and hygiene. If you have any dietary restrictions or allergies that are not included above, you can fill out a hamper request form, and a hamper will be specially created to suit your needs. This may also include food from a specific region of interest but is dependent on the availability of those items in stock. Students can receive up to four hampers a month.  

Events are run throughout the year encouraging people to make donations and to support FSS in any way that they can. An example of these events includes the Stock the Bank event which occurs in November and aims to prepare the service for the winter and holiday season as those are often the busiest season. However, donations are accepted year-round through the donation bins. These can be found across campus in the following buildings: 

  • Student Life Centre Flock Stop Stairs (SLC 1st Floor) 
  • South Campus Hall (SCH) 
  • Renison University College 
  • Claudette Millar Hall (CMH) 
  • William M. Tatham Centre (TC) 
  • IST (EC2) 

These donations are then collected and brought to the SLC where they are stored and divided into hampers. If you have a large donation, we ask that you contact us directly through the foodsupport@wusa.ca email. Monetary donations can also be made on the WUSA Donations Webpage.

Food insecurity is a systemic issue impacting students across the province. A recent 2023 Hunger Report by Feed Ontario investigated the massive increase in food bank use in the years following the pandemic. WUSA is prioritizing its advocacy concerning food insecurity with its inclusion in the 2024/ 2025 Annual Plan and is currently working with its partner schools through the Ontario Undergraduate Student Alliance (OUSA) to advocate that the provincial government increase support for local food banks and support services to better support all students studying in Ontario.  

More information about FSS, donating, and signing up for the hamper program, can be found on the WUSA Food Support Service webpage. Follow @wusafoodsupport on Instagram for updates, information, and upcoming events. As always, if you have any other questions feel free to reach out to foodsupport@wusa.ca and we will work to get back to you as soon as possible.

Rory Norris
Communications Assistant

Published: Monday, July 29, 2024

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