Owens Community College, with the support of the Toledo Seagate Food Bank, is reaching out to its
students who are in need of assistance by announcing the creation of the its first-ever Owens Harvest
Food Pantries on the Wood County and Findlay-area campuses.
The food pantries are designed to provide students with free non-perishable food resources as well as
various service learning opportunities.
"The Owens Harvest Food Pantries outreach initiative was created to assist our students in need
while also offering service and volunteer opportunities for those individuals who want to give back and
help their fellow students," said Krista Kiessling, Owens coordinator of the Harvest Project.
"College students are often balancing several responsibilities in their lives, including financially
supporting their families while attending school. Our goal is to alleviate some of those financial
concerns for students" by letting them use the new food pantry services.
Owens’ food pantries "are also designed to build upon the college’s culture of service on our
campuses by creating new collaborative learning opportunities for students in various academic
departments and disciplines.’
Among the many potential service learning possibilities are "the business management and marketing
of the new pantries, the establishment of a nutritional program for students and the exploration of the
sociological impact of poverty and hunger on certain cultural groups.
Most importantly, the new Owens Harvest Food Pantries and outreach services would not be possible without
the help and support of the Toledo Seagate Food Bank."
The food pantry on the Perrysburg Township campus will be located in Heritage Hall Room 109. The site for
the Findlay campus will be the Maintenance/Department of Public Safety Building Room 106.
Both locations will be open to all Owens students on Tuesdays (Perrysburg Township campus) and on
Thursdays (Findlay campus) starting in February. Students will need to show a valid Owens identification
to use the services.
The pantries will feature a healthy nutritional balance of non-perishable food items such as proteins,
starches, fruits and vegetables.
According to Kiessling, the long-term goal is to expand the services to include a career closet of
professional clothing and a hygiene pantry.
Toledo Seagate Food Bank was founded with the overall mission of eliminating hunger. The non-profit
organization provides service to 18 counties and distributes over 15 million pounds of food annually to
over 500 organizational programs such as food pantries, community resource centers, churches, soup
kitchens, senior centers, rehabilitation and low-income housing service agencies.
Individuals or groups interested in participating or donating to the Owens Harvest Food Pantry initiative
can call (567) 661-2275 or (800) GO-OWENS, ext. 2275.
