BHCC Opens the DISH Food Pantry

Monday, September 30, 2019

At Bunker Hill Community College (BHCC), on September 12, 2019, a ribbon-cutting ceremony marked the formal opening of the DISH (Delivering Information, Sustenance, and Health) food pantry to recognize the donors and key people who made the pantry a reality.

President Pam Eddinger welcomed the guests, including donors, partners, students, faculty, staff and community members, thanking not only those present, but also the many individuals no longer at BHCC who were instrumental in beginning the work to help students with food insecurity.  She described how the early work on food insecurity led to putting programs in place at BHCC to feed students, which, in turn, led to advocating for the need to address the wide-spread issue of hunger among college students.  Outreach by Eddinger and others led to a national study by the Government Accountability Office (GAO) and, as a result, to three bills currently before Congress and one bill before the Massachusetts State Legislature.

Among those recognized by Eddinger were:

• BHCC President Emeritus Mary Fifield, for establishing the emergency fund at BHCC and for always opening up extra food from events and meetings for the students.
• Wick Sloane, retired staff and professor at the College, who continued to push the controversial hunger issue when people did not believe it was an issue.
• Foundation board members, including Bob Strassler and Bob Hildreth, who have been supporting efforts to alleviate hunger among BHCC students for many years; and Jim Murphy (Foundation President) and Shawn Lynch who provided retail grocery expertise to the development of the food pantry.
• Operational partners:
  • Catherine D’Amato and the Greater Boston Food Bank, which provides non-perishable food for the DISH.
  • Fiona Crimmons from Food for Free, which repurposes unused food from area college cafeterias into healthy frozen meals, and transports the food from GBFB to the DISH weekly.
  • Deanne Dupont and Julie Krammer from Food Link, which delivers day-old bread to the DISH from major vendors in the Boston area.

Donors who directly contributed funds to construct and equip the food pantry include:

• BHCC Student Government Association
• Bob and Diane Hildreth
• Cabot Family Charitable Trust
• Carol and Giulio Caperchi
• EoS Foundation
• Liberty Mutual Foundation
• Missy and Marsh Carter
• Stop and Shop

About the DISH

The DISH aims to empower those in need to obtain resources so that they may focus on being healthy, happy and successful at Bunker Hill Community College without the barrier of fighting hunger. The DISH is a student-driven and supported resource that is committed to being a safe, dignified and stigma-free environment.  The DISH food pantry is powered by SmartChoice on Campus™ digital software. Learn more at bhcc.edu/dishfoodpantry.