Scheduled to open late spring/early summer 2018, the Center will expand Palomar’s food pantry program and provide additional resources to address student food insecurity.

Pictured left to right, above: Palomar College Governing Board Trustee Nina Deerfield; Board Vice President Dr. John Halcón; Superintendent/President Dr. Joi Lin Blake; Governing Board Secretary Mark Evilsizer; and Associated Student Government President and Student Trustee Chris Hopp.

SAN MARCOS, CA ― In an ongoing effort to address student hunger, Palomar College officials broke ground on the Anita and Stan Maag Food & Nutrition Center on Friday, March 9. Funded by a $400,000 donation, the Center will replace the college’s faculty and staff lounge in the Student Union area of the San Marcos campus.

The Palomar College Office of Student Affairs has operated a food pantry for 34 years, providing weekly food distributions and longer-term support for students who need it, but the program has outgrown its current home.

For now, the campus food pantry is limited to dry goods and same-day distribution of produce. When the new Center opens, staff and volunteers will have a refrigerator for keeping produce and dairy, as well as a staging room to accept pallets of food.

“Many of our students live paycheck to paycheck, and often must decide between rent, gas, food, clothing, taking care of their little ones and taking care of their partners,” said Sherry Titus, Director of Student Affairs at Palomar. “We need them to stay in school, and we need to provide the resources to help them stay in school.”

For more information about the Anita and Stan Maag Food & Nutrition Center, please visit https://www.palomar.edu/studentlifeandleadership/student-assistance/palomar-college-food-bank/.

# # #

Media contacts:

Laura Gropen, Public Affairs, lgropen@palomar.edu, 760-744-1150 x2152

Tom Pfingsten, Public Affairs, tpfingsten@palomar.edu, 760-744-1150 x2960