A newly redesigned on-campus food market will provide free food for students at Kennedy-King College in Englewood. Statesmen Market is an extension of Chicago City College’s former food pantry, and was celebrated with a grand opening ceremony on Tuesday.
The market is located in the V building of the campus at 6301 S. Halsted St. and consists of grab-and-go snacks, frozen meals and food options to cook. Students can enjoy the market in between classes, along with wellness and pantry items like lotions and food storage bags.
“The Statesman Market reflects a powerful belief: hunger should never stand in the way of education, life goals and career success.” Katonja Webb-Walker, Kennedy-King College president, said at the ceremony. “Our students come to Kennedy-King with big dreams, and this new, expanded and beautiful marketplace helps ensure every student has the support they need to stay enrolled, focused and thriving.”
Students will be able to grab items from the Statesmen Market starting Wednesday, with operations expected to run 40 hours a week, according to Anne Althoff, executive director of student wellness at City Colleges of Chicago. Althoff added that the redesigned market was created to remove negative stigmas that are associated with food pantries and to “feel more like a grocery store.”
Statesmen Market is a product of the Food Security for Life initiative, a collaboration between the City Colleges of Chicago and the Greater Chicago Food Depository, which aims to address food insecurity among City Colleges students. The initiative was launched last year; Kennedy-King is the pilot college of the project.
According to City Colleges, 60% of students at Kennedy-King identify as food insecure compared to 50% of students across all city colleges.
Through the Food Security for Life initiative, City Colleges and the Greater Chicago Food Depository expect to have on-campus markets at all seven City Colleges. Juan Salgado, chancellor of City Colleges of Chicago, said during the ceremony that they aim to have the markets built within a year and a half.
“Beyond free food, it’s free life essentials like sanitary napkins, light bulbs, deodorant, [and] detergent. So just having that right there on campus, it meant everything, because that was one less trip that I had to take to the store,” Kennedy-King student Tiara Davis, 32, told The TRiiBE about what it meant for the school to provide free groceries.
As a caretaker of five, Davis said the free food has been a tremendous help and is one less chore on her plate. Davis, who is studying computer science at Kennedy-King, frequented the school’s former food pantry and explained how Statesmen Market is a major upgrade from the former food pantry.
The sentiment was shared by 21-year-old Kennedy-King student Makayla Hurtado, who has attended the city college for three semesters and has used the food pantry since she enrolled.
“Everything that’s in here was basically in the other building, but on a smaller scale,” Hurtado said. “I love the upgrade.”
Kennedy-King Student and Englewood native Princess’Miyah Ashford, 20, said the Statesmen Market is a 100% improvement from the college’s former food pantry, which she said she didn’t visit due to long lines and lack of options.
“I didn’t use the other one, because I felt like it wasn’t as efficient. They had people waiting in line waiting for it to open, and it wasn’t that many options, so I didn’t think I needed it,” Ashford said. “But now I think I will be able to come in here and shop.”
