New Jersey’s county colleges launch statewide fundraising effort to address food insecurity among students

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The New Jersey Council of County Colleges has launched a year-round fundraising campaign to help the state’s community colleges address food insecurity among some of their students.

The organization, along with the colleges and the Future Alumni Support Team, launched the statewide Feed the Future: Fight Student Hunger fundraising campaign to support food pantries and other initiatives at the colleges.

According to a 2019 survey from The Hope Center, 39% of the more than 9,100 community college students who responded reported experiencing food insecurity.

“That is an astoundingly high number,” said Aaron Fichtner, president of the New Jersey Council of County Colleges.

Noting that New Jersey is an expensive state to live in — the National Association of Realtors said the state had the eighth-highest cost of living in the country in 2024 —  Fichtner said students often make sacrifices when attending community college.

“From our personal experience on campuses every day … too many students are trying to juggle the need to go to college with the need to feed themselves,” he said. “Many of our students are working multiple jobs to put themselves through college.”

The campaign was launched Monday as part of National Hunger Action Month. It is part of the organization’s Opportunity Agenda, which aims to provide 75% of the state’s working population with a postsecondary credential or degree by 2040.

Through the Spotfund platform, donors have the opportunity to give to the community colleges directly.

For Salem Community College’s Oak Essentials food pantry, the statewide campaign is a boost, according to Michael R. Gorman, the college’s president.

Salem County is often ranked as having one of lower average incomes in the state, compared to other counties.

“We’re an agrarian culture by heritage and there’s a lot of poverty that goes throughout the area,” Gorman said. “It’s in pockets, so to speak, but there’s a great deal of generational poverty.”

In addition to their food pantry, Gorman said the college has assisted people with securing benefits through the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program, commonly known as SNAP. They are also looking at how they can continue to help students in light of changes made to SNAP under the “One Big Beautiful Bill Act” signed by President Trump last July.

“We’re working with several other agencies within the county to make sure that we broaden our perspective on this somewhat,” he said. “It’s a major issue that’s going to become even more prolific as we go into the next fiscal year.”