CEGEP students, employees going hungry or rely on free food service more than ever

A program at Dawson College is aimed at feeding hungry college students.

On the breakfast menu for early birds at Dawson College is a peanut butter, honey and banana sandwich with fruit salad and yogurt — all free of charge.

“It’s very good and actually a nice breakfast for my busy day,” said first-year student Aining Jhan.

“The food is actually really good. Like, it’s actually very nutritious,” agreed fellow student Alexia Principe, who says she eats breakfast here every Thursday.

This breakfast is part of the food justice program funded by The Dawson Foundation. It’s one of four meals served every week by student volunteers.

“There’s a lot of food around here, and I find that I spend a lot of money on food. So I find it really cool that we can eat for free. I think that it’s really amazing,” said student Bianca Rokakis.

Anywhere from 70 to 100 people are fed each meal, according to social justice coordinator Diana Rice. She said last school year they served 11,000 meals, which is basically the college’s entire student and employee population.

“It is both shocking, but yet somehow when you pay attention, not surprising,” Rice told CTV News.

She said the need for the program has grown. With rising rent and the high cost of living, Rice said CEGEP students and employees are going hungry.

“We have the employees who have come in confidence and said, ‘Hey, just so you know, my rent is so high now that,like, if it wasn’t for these food programs, I would struggle to eat.’”

Rice said they do their best to serve people most in need, but they don’t discriminate because all young adults need help to succeed.

“Definitely studying or being in class with an empty stomach. It’s pretty. It’s hard. I can’t even focus. So I’d say in that aspect it’s very useful,” said student Franny Rodriguez.

Johnson Qui’s commute to school from his home in Pierrefonds takes him more than an hour, “so I don’t have much time to prepare my own breakfast. And it’s really good that I can just eat my breakfast at school.”

Breakfast is on the menu twice a week. But Rice says she would like to offer it more often to make sure all students and employees have enough to eat.