SMC Giving Thanks(giving) to Students
On Tuesday, Nov. 22, Santa Monica College held its 3rd Annual “Giving Thanks(giving)” Holiday grocery drive-thru event.
The Santa Monica College Foundation hosted the day-long “Giving Thanks(giving)” event on Tuesday as part of its Basic Needs program and provided fresh groceries to 1,100 students experiencing food insecurity. Students were able to either walk up to collect their groceries by Pico Boulevard or by drive-thru by Pearl Street down to Lot 1.
The only requirement for reserving a meal for either Tuesday's groceries hand off or Wednesday's warm food pick up was to be a current enrolled student. Once students sign in, they are handed either a turkey, kosher turkey, or a vegan loaf along with a tote provided by the Bodega filled with groceries.
After being informed by a counselor to sign up for the Giving Thanks(giving) grocery giveaway early October, second-year Ray Herrera, who plays defensive quarterback for the SMC Football team, collected his turkey and grocery bag Tuesday morning. Herrera said, “inside the tote bag I got a pie, bread, apple cider, fruits, carrots, potatoes, onions, turkey, cold butter, everything I would use.”
Herrera is one of the many students who used the free one-way ride provided by Lyft ride vouchers to students for this particular event commuting back to Inglewood near the Forum with his Thanksgiving groceries.
In a press release, SMC Superintendent and President Dr. Kathryn E. Jeffery said that more than 50 percent of students at SMC are challenged to fulfill their academic ambitions due to experiencing food and housing insecurities.
“We at least, through this event, want to give people a chance to know that they are not alone, that we are standing with them, to help them at the holiday time to have a brighter moment and to take the issues of where that particular meal is coming from off of their literal plates to give them all of the things that are traditional for a Thanksgiving meal,” she said in an interview with the Corsair.
The event was made possible with multiple donations from local businesses, non-profit partners, corporations and sponsors such as SMC’s Associated Students, KCRW 89.9 FM, Jacmar Food Services Distribution, Costco, Vicente Foods, Gelson’s Market, and Whole Foods Markets.
Donations can be made online at the SMC Foundation website, and those interested can contact Tessa Cavenah, the Development Director of the SMC Foundation.
