AU offers financial resources and food pantry for students

By Janell Williams | Staff writer

Although only a small percentage of students at Augusta University face financial insecurity, a much larger portion do not know about the resources offered by the university for assistance. Many financial resources are available including the Open Paws food pantry and the Student Emergency Fund. 

The Student Emergency Fund is available as a one-time disbursement to students who have had to face an unexpected event such as a house fire, family death or domestic abuse. These funds can be used to alleviate any financial hardship aside from tuition.

The Open Paws food pantry is available to any AU student or staff as often as they need to come. Director of Student Advocacy Gina Thurman offered many options for where and what can be donated. 

“Our students like pastas, pasta sauces, Pop-Tarts, breakfast bars, canned tuna or chicken, ready to eat meals and school supplies. All donations can be brought [to the Summerville campus] or the Health Sciences campus,” she said.

The Health Sciences campus also has a garden from their dietetics program for fresh fruit and vegetables to donate.

Over the past few weeks, more students have been coming for assistance as they await refunds for additional funding. 

Since the students’ return to campus, the community has not let obstacles like COVID-19 deter their efforts to support their Jaguars.

“The campus community gave over 4,700 pounds of food. We’d only just started the emergency fund and only had a couple thousand dollars. We placed a call with the community for help and received donations from local churches, faculty, and community members,” Thurman said.

The food pantries are located in Bellevue Hall on the Summerville campus and on the second floor of the Student Center on the Health Sciences campus. Questions or concerns can be addressed by contacting gthurman@augusta.edu. 

Contact Janell Williams at jwilliams30@augusta.edu.