The Full Plate Food Pantry at Three Rivers Community College is busy! Since gaining a new permanent location in 2017, the use of the pantry has greatly increased and preparations for Thanksgiving are well underway.  The pantry will supply 30 Thanksgiving dinners to food-insecure students of the Three Rivers community this year.

From its first year, the Full Plate has held Thanksgiving food drives. Beginning in 2012 and continuing through 2018, the Full Plate has provided over 30 complete Thanksgiving dinners to anyone in the Three Rivers community who was in need. Long-time Chair of the Food Pantry Task Force, Professor Janet Hagen says, “We are so thankful that we have such a supportive community of faculty and staff that make the Thanksgiving drive possible. The students who receive Thanksgiving Dinners are so grateful.”

In addition to the Thanksgiving dinners, The Full Plate is open during the fall and spring semester, providing food to those who need it. Monetary and food donations by faculty, staff, and student organizations keep the pantry’s shelves stocked. The food pantry is a valued and necessary, as recent statistics show that two-thirds of community college students suffer from food insecurity.

Hagen oversees The Full Plate along with the Food Pantry Task Force, which is made up of three faculty members and two staff members. For more information on the food pantry, please contact Janet Hagen at 860-215-9433.