End Hunger on College Campuses

UPDATES:

September 2023: An Act to establish the Hunger Free Campus Initiative will be heard before the Joint Committee on Higher Education on Monday, September 18 at 10:00am. We invite students and advocates to join for the hearing and subsequent college hunger awareness activities.

August 2023: In August 2023, the HFCC secured $1 million in the FY24 state budget for the Hunger Free Campus Initiative!!!!! This is a huge victory for the coalition and will allow campuses across the state to implement hunger-relief initiatives on campus to meet the needs of their students. Take a moment send a note of thanks to Governor Healey for passing this budget.

March 2023: The MA HFCC and MassPIRG will be hosting an in-person lobby and advocacy day on Thursday, March 30th! Come join advocates and students from across the state for a morning of inspiring speakers and an afternoon of meetings with your legislators. Register here.

January, 2023: Senator Lovely, Representative Vargas, and Representative Domb have filed An Act establishing the Hunger Free Campus Initiative (S835 / H1293). The bill provides a roadmap for the Department of Higher Ed to support 2- and 4-year public colleges and minority -serving institutions in bringing hunger relief initiatives that have been proven successful to campuses around Massachusetts.  

2022 was a big year for the Hunger Free Campus Initiative! Take a look at our 2022 Year in Review slides.

U.S. Congressman Jim McGovern shares his support for HFC legislation in this powerful video:

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The Hunger Free Campus Initiative was adopted by the Massachusetts Senate in July, 2022 – with unanimous consent! The Initiative is Outside Section 5A in the Senate’s Economic Development package. But we need the House members to agree to the Senate language when they pass the Economic Development bill before the end of 2022. This bill is supported through existing ARPA funding and has strong bipartisan support in both the Senate and House. The virtual public hearing for our bill was held on October 7, 2021, and you can watch the full hearing here.

The Massachusetts Hunger-Free Campus Coalition (HFCC) was formed in the fall of 2019 to address food insecurity among high-need populations enrolled in Massachusetts public colleges and universities. Our goal is to ensure equity and incorporate student voices as we work to make Massachusetts college campuses hunger free.

37% of public university students in Massachusetts are food insecure, and only 20% of food insecure students utilize Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) benefits. (Source)

S.2811 and H.4697, sponsored by Senator Harriette Chandler (D-Worcester), Senator Joan Lovely (D-Salem), Representative Andy Vargas (D-Haverhill), and Representative Mindy Domb (D-Amherst) and Rep. Joan Meschino (D-Hull) would provide colleges the technical assistance and funding they need to address food insecurity on their campuses.