A food pantry open to all Kenosha County residents will be held 11 a.m. to 1 p.m. March 22 and April 19 at Gateway Technical College’s Kenosha Campus, 3520-30th Ave.

The college has partnered with Kenosha’s Grace Welcome Center for the pantry, which will offer boxes of food to students and the public on-site in an area outside of the buildings and just west of the Academic Building and south of the student commons.

Food includes non-perishable foods as well as refrigerated and frozen food – such as fruits, vegetables, dairy and meat – as available.

Sarah Marbes, Gateway Impact Program coordinator, says there is a rising need among students who are food insecure for direction on how they can secure food for themselves and their families.

“They are in a situation where they want to come to class and help themselves and their families by earning a degree, but they don’t have enough money for groceries for their kids,” says Marbes.

“They will be limited in their ability to be successful in their classes if they are hungry or worry about how they will feed their families. Efforts such as the food pantry will empower them to earn their degree and be successful.”

Denise Russell, Grace Welcome Center Food Pantry director, said her group chose to work with Gateway because the average age of students is somewhat older than other area colleges, and they felt that many Gateway students are likely living on their own or are parents with families who they have to support.

“We learned that there were Gateway students with food insecurities and we thought it would be a good place for us,” said Russell. “We look forward to addressing the needs of not only students, but other local families too.”