5C community members have been ramping up food donation and distribution efforts across campus and in neighboring communities, such as the city of Pomona, in light of the recent Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) benefit freeze, which has hindered food access for millions of Americans.
On Nov. 9, students across the 5Cs participated in the Food Justice Community Service Day held by Scripps Communities of Resources and Empowerment (SCORE) in collaboration with the Pomona Community Fridge at Lopez Urban Farm. Students worked to unload boxes of donated food and sort the donations into new boxes for the Pomona Community Fridge’s pantry.
The community fridge had been conducting weekly food distributions in Pomona before the partnership with SCORE, aiming to serve the low-income, unhoused and immigrant communities in Pomona.
Becky Kyles, SCORE’s international student advisor and co-head of the Pomona Community Fridge, said that given the fridge’s location in a low-income area of Pomona, ensuring food is available for pickup and conducting these weekly distributions helps fill in the gaps for many community members.
“There has definitely been a continuous uptick in the number of folks who show interest and our sign-ups fill up faster and faster,” Kyles said.
Kyles said she hopes the collaboration with the Claremont Colleges and SCORE will specifically help students feel connected to their community and further understand the impact of community action.
Madeline Gonzalez Stoermer, co-head of the Pomona Community Fridge, said that food distribution efforts were extremely important during the SNAP benefit freeze, which began on Nov. 1.
“With the unfortunate news of SNAP benefits being cut, or plainly taken away, food distributions are vital in addressing basic needs and mental health in the community,” she said.
President Donald Trump signed a Congress-approved funding bill Nov. 12 ending the United States’ longest government shutdown, meaning that SNAP payments are now set to resume as normal. However, many are still waiting for their benefits.
In Pomona, 15.2 percent of residents use food assistance such as food stamps or SNAP.
Riley Thibodeau PZ ’27 is the distribution working group representative for the 5C Environmental Justice club, which has been working to increase distribution both on and off campus for those struggling with food insecurity.
“With SNAP cuts, we ramped up our efforts for a food distribution plan that we were in the process of building,” Thibodeau said.
5C Environmental Justice partners with Villa Esperanza, an affordable housing complex in downtown Pomona, to take unused food from school events and deliver it to the area three times a week.
“So many of us here at the [Claremont] Colleges are in such a position of privilege and the colleges have so many different resources, and I think that we have both a responsibility and the ability to really support our neighbors and our community members,” Thibodeau said.
“So many of us here at the [Claremont] Colleges are in such a position of privilege and the colleges have so many different resources, and I think that we have both a responsibility and the ability to really support our neighbors and our community members,” Riley Thibodeau PZ ’27 said.
Thibodeau is also working to ensure 5C students on SNAP have access to food through food distributions on campus, including fridges such as those in the Grove House on Pitzer’s campus and in CCA Building B.
“The SNAP cuts have definitely drawn my attention to the need for schools to be making sure there is no food insecurity on campus, both with students and staff,” she said.
The initiative on campus has been a recent addition to other food distribution efforts in the city of Pomona by 5C Environmental Justice. Thibodeau has been in contact with her home campus, Pitzer College.
“Pitzer has been very receptive,” Thibodeau said. “I’ve been working with a variety of different administrators to kind of come up with different solutions on how that gap can be filled.”
Gonzalez Stoermer said that she is grateful for the other organizations in Pomona focused on mutual aid that are working together to address food insecurity in the area.
The Pomona Community Fridge is a part of the Los Angeles Community Fridge Network, often partnering with neighboring schools to help fulfill their mission.
“It is our hope that we can continue to partner with different schools or organizations for these large distribution days,” Kyles said.
Both Gonzalez Stoermer and Kyles began as volunteers for the organization; however, in June, when a change in leadership occurred, they were offered positions as co-coordinators.
“The changeover happened as immigration enforcement raids were intensifying and there was a need to get food to families who could not leave their homes or were financially suffering due to inability to work,” Kyles said.“With the support, resources and guidance of Hope Esperanza Pantry, we began organizing the weekly food distributions.”
Kyles said that it is the collaboration with community members and volunteers that makes the fridge possible and keeps an essential piece of the community running.
“It is not just the fridge, but also the community bodega, the sustenance from the farm, the community programming and education, and most importantly, amazing staff and volunteers who genuinely care about and for their community make Lopez Urban Farm a much needed and cherished place,” she said.
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