Health
Partnership Aims to Better Address Food Insecurity Among City Colleges Students
Food pantry items during an event at Kennedy-King College on Sept. 30, 2025, for the announcement of a new initiative by the City Colleges of Chicago and Greater Chicago Food Depository to address food insecurity. (Eunice Alpasan / WTTW News)
A new initiative announced by City Colleges of Chicago and the Greater Chicago Food Depository on Tuesday aims to better address food insecurity among students attending community colleges in the city.
This fall, free take-home meals at Malcolm X College, Kennedy-King College and Olive-Harvey College will be available for students and their family members, with plans to expand to all seven city community colleges, leaders said. Students will also be able to receive free snacks at various locations across campuses starting this fall.
Additionally, food pantries at the city’s community colleges will soon offer expanded hours, with the first expanded market opening in January at Kennedy-King College, where the initiative was announced Tuesday.
Organization leaders and elected officials, including Mayor Brandon Johnson and Gov. JB Pritzker, gathered at Kennedy-King College for the announcement.
Mo’hogney Mitchell, a psychology student and president of the Student Government Association at Kennedy-King, said the food pantry at Kennedy-King isn’t open every day, and that when it is open, she has seen lines wrapped around the hall.
“So many students are in need,” Mitchell said. “When I saw that, I knew more could be done.”
Under the new initiative, the food pantries on campuses will be open five days a week, according to a Greater Chicago Food Depository spokesperson.
Mitchell said she’s excited about the new partnership both on a personal level and as a student leader.
Mo’hogney Mitchell, a psychology student and president of the Student Government Association at Kennedy King College, speaks during an announcement event at Kennedy King College on Sept. 30, 2025. (Eunice Alpasan / WTTW News)
“As someone who is here on campus from 8 to 5 almost every day, it means I won’t have to starve myself to get through my commute, classes, SGA meetings and more,” Mitchell said. “It means I can continue to bring home meals for myself and for my grandma.”
According to the mayor’s office, 50% of students attending City Colleges of Chicago identify as food insecure. The initiative, officials said, will expand services to connect students with public benefits such as SNAP, WIC and Medicaid. City Colleges students will also be able to work paid apprenticeships at the Greater Chicago Food Depository under an expanded partnership.
The food and services will be offered at no cost to students through support from the philanthropic organization Knight Impact Partners, which is supporting the rollout of the initiative over the next five years, according to a news release.
The Greater Chicago Food Depository released a report earlier this month that indicated the Chicago area was on the cusp of a hunger crisis.
More than a third of households, or 1.4 million households, in the greater Chicago area cannot afford the basic cost of living in their county, putting them at serious risk of food insecurity, according to this year’s Greater Chicagoland Hunger Report co-released by the Greater Chicago Food Depository, the Northern Illinois Food Bank and the Food Bank of Northwest Indiana.
The report also found a nearly 50% increase in household visits to local food pantries and free grocery programs in fiscal year 2025 compared to 2020.
Contact Eunice Alpasan: [email protected]
