Charlotte, N.C. / April 23, 2020 - Johnson C. Smith University is making every effort possible to help students during the COVID-19 pandemic. April 21, 2020 the campus food pantry, Single Stop, resumed its operations in an effort to assist students during this crisis.
While they have reopened, operations and inventory are limited, due to COVID-19.
“We will distribute items to our students until we have depleted our inventory,” said Yvonne Moore, Single Stop site coordinator.
Students will receive bags with pre-packaged food and toiletry items. In an effort to provide access to fresh foods, students will also receive a gift card. $20 for single students, $40 for students with families.
While Moore is grateful she can provide services to students, the pandemic has limited the help she can provide to the community, especially to those in the Historic West End.
“Unfortunately, we are unable to serve community members at this time but we are working on acquiring additional resources in hopes of resuming services to them,” she said.
Despite temporarily halting access to community members, some partnerships have remained.
“We have continued our partnership with SUCCEED Afterschool Program at Reid Park Academy. We’re still providing food bags to the families of the 40 students we agreed to support at the start of the academic school year.
COVID-19 has also halted other services like rental assistance and utilities Single Stop regularly provides.
Moore added, “To address this need we reached out to our contact at the Department of Social Services and were told that student families and community members are able to call 211 to submit an intake over the phone for Crisis Assistance Ministry (CAM) services.”
JCSU students in need of assistance can request food by 5 p.m. the day before pickup. Pick up times are Tuesday and Thursday from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. In an effort to practice social distancing, Moore has created guidelines to ensure staff members and students keep six feet distance during distribution.
To donate to Single Stop, please go to www.jcsu.edu/give and designate your gift to Single Stop. Once on the JCSU giving site, choose your donation amount and then on the following screens choose “Other” in the gift designation area. Type in Single Stop in this area so that the JCSU Food Pantry may have direct access to your gift.
