William Paterson Awarded $56K Grant To Fight Student Hunger

WAYNE, NJ — William Paterson University has received a state grant to help support food-insecure students on campus, as the university is about to kick off their Hunger and Homelessness Awareness Week.

The New Jersey Office of the Secretary of Higher Education awarded a total of $1.2 million in Hunger-Free Campus Act grants to 34 colleges and universities in Fiscal Year 2025, to help fight student hunger.

Applications for this program increased by 150 percent during this grant cycle — and a recent survey suggests that one-third of New Jersey students don't have consistent access to enough food resources, the OSHE said.

William Paterson University was awarded $56,250. Grant funding will be used to address students' food needs on campus, raise awareness of current campus services and programs that help students with basic food needs, and keep building partnerships in the community and around the state to address food security.

The university has a Hunger and Homelessness Awareness Weekbeginning Friday, Nov. 15, and going until Friday the 22nd. There is an all-campus food drive for the Pioneer Pantry throughout the week, and a number of other events are going on, including a service project for Operation Christmas Child and an informative session on SNAP benefits.

Among the sponsors of the event are the WP Hunger Free Task Force, Campus Activities, and the Hunger-Free Campus grant. Click here to see the full schedule.

The Hunger-Free Campus grant program was established by the Hunger-Free Campus Act, which Gov. Phil Murphy signed in 2019.