Ashland Community & Technical College (ACTC) is committed to helping student’s achieve academic success, and that goes beyond the classroom by helping to fight food insecurity among students.
Through the Pathfinder Pantry, the college is able to provide assistance with meeting basic needs and removing non-academic barriers to college success.
Feeding Bodies, Feeding Minds
The pantry is once again open for the fall semester.
Over the course of the last five years, the Pathfinder Pantry at ACTC has served 3,500 individuals.
By working with individual donors and community partners, the Pathfinder Pantry is stocked with non-perishable food items and hygiene products, as well as special food items and dinner boxes around the holidays.
“We have a fantastic relationship with Facing Hunger who helps us secure food items from The Neighborhood in Ashland,” shared Erin Cantrell, ACTC Academic Advisor and overseer of the Technology Drive Campus Pantry. “We’ve also worked with WellCare of Kentucky to give away Thanksgiving and Easter dinner boxes to students in need.”
Individuals are provided one large tote bag for non-perishable food items and a grocery store bag for hygiene items to fill each month.
They can also pick up perishable items once a week while supplies last.
To ensure accessibility to the Pathfinder Pantry, one must be a currently enrolled ACTC student and complete certain online forms.
“Students are able to shop by themselves when getting their monthly bag so that we can ensure nothing is going to be wasted,” said Cantrell. “Several students have expressed how thankful they are that we offer this service to them.”
Covering Basic Needs
The Pathfinder Pantry is located on the College Drive Campus in room 163, and the Technology Drive Campus in room 136A, inside of the Student Lounge.
Both locations are open Monday-Friday from 8:30am-4:00pm.
Both Pantry locations operate entirely from donations, so any donations of canned food items or hygiene products are greatly appreciated.
Those items can be dropped off at either location.
More information, as well as the form to apply, can be found online at ashland.kctcs.edu.
