Transcript:
Miesha Smith:
We know the makeup of our students, that they come from mostly immigrant [families], if not [are] first generation themselves, college students, and people who are working multiple jobs to get their way through.
And we started to hear from our students that they needed help. They needed more support, and they thought that a food pantry could do that.
Hashina Sumy:
Hi. Thank you for calling Purple Apron Pantry.
It was like a relief. It’s like knowing that there’s food that we can use and, like, going out to buy the same food item is gonna cost, like, so much money.
Miesha Smith:
Students were like, I have two hundred dollars to make it through the week. Yeah. But they have to pay for a MetroCard, they have to pay their credit card bill, their phone bill.
Hashina Sumy:
It was overwhelming. It’s an overwhelming feeling, not knowing what you’re gonna eat next, not knowing if you can eat, like, going to sleep hungry.
Miesha Smith:
It’s just weight. It’s just stress. If you want your students to succeed, they cannot be taking, you know, classes that are super complicated and then having to leave class and think: ‘Can I buy a bag of chips and will that tie me over until nine o’clock and then I’ll just go to sleep hungry? That is unacceptable.’
Hashina Sumy:
Having the food bank when I needed it, it feels like, I feel grateful.
To the people who are donating, I just wanna say thank you for donating.
I worked to get my bachelor’s. I got my bachelor’s. And now I’m ready to for the next stop, which is to get, like, a full-time job.
Miesha Smith:
These students are here because they want it, because they need it, because they’re trying to make a generational difference in their families.
And you’re helping them by providing them this food, and then this is what is gonna make the next generation stronger.
