The countdown is on! UMBC's Giving Day kicks off at midnight and we need your help to hit the goal of 1,000 donors in 24 hours. #blackandgoldrush 

Tomorrow is #UMBC’s second Giving Day! Consider making a gift to Retriever Essentials during #blackandgoldrush & help us to continue our mission of tackling food insecurity in our university community.

We are excited to announce that Retriever Essentials will be participating in Giving Day 2019!

UMBC Giving Day Black and Gold Rush is an inspiring example of what the UMBC community can accomplish together.

It only takes a moment to help transform lives—and you can make your mark no matter where you are. Join the #BlackandGoldRush by visiting givingday.umbc.edu and choose to support Retriever Essentials, or your favorite UMBC cause!

February 28- one day to make a difference. Save the date and join #UMBC for #blackandgoldrush Giving Day. www.givingday.umbc.edu

Wondering how to pickup free nonperishable groceries while you're on campus? Worried about visiting a Food Zone for the first time?

Check out this informational video on what it looks like to visit each of our 6 food zones.

Welcome back, Retrievers!

Another semester means another opportunity for you to support your classmates who are struggling to eat while they're on campus.

The Save a Swipe Program provides free meals to True Grits for students who have been identified as food insecure by trained staff. Are you struggling to eat while you're on campus? Email retrieveressentials@umbc.edu to see if you qualify.

Did you have extra meals left on your meal plan last semester? Consider signing up to donate 5 or 10 meals from your meal plan to Save a Swipe to help a classmate in need. Last semester 280 meals were donated which were able to feed 23 food insecure students. Help us reach and surpass those numbers this semester!  Consider doing your part in helping Retriever Essentials bridge the gap between hunger on campus and academic success by signing up to donate online from now until 2/15/19.

Donated meals will be distributed to students in need through Counseling Services to be used in True Grit’s. 225 Block meal plans will have 5 or 10 meals deducted when you sign up. Recurring meals per week (Flexible 10, 14, Terrific 12, Savvy 16) will have one meal deducted each week starting February 25th-May 6th. Ultimate Meal Plan holders will be donating their Friday lunch meal, students on the Ultimate will not be able to use a meal from 11:00 am - 4:00pm on Friday. Ultimate plan holders can still use their flex, Retriever Dollars or food funds. By donating these meals you agree to this form, these meals are non-revocable once submitted. You may sign up during the beginning of the semester until the drop/add date (February 15th, Spring 2019).

• GAO found that there are nearly 1 million college students at risk of becoming food insecure, marking the first time the federal government has acknowledged food insecurity on campus in a significant way.
• The federal government spends billions of dollars on higher education each year, and this report finds that some students are at risk of dropping out because they cannot eat.
• “[The report] put it very clearly for us that we can see that especially first-time students, first-generation students, students who are raising children, single parents, face increasing obstacles to be able to complete that critical college degree,” Senator Patty Murray, the top Democrat on the Senate’s education committee says.
•  Middle-class students, those who are “too rich for Pell and too poor to afford college,” struggle as well. And they may not be as likely to use things such as the food pantry.
• Murray says that addressing food insecurity is one of her top priorities as Congress negotiates a reauthorization of the Higher Education Act, the major federal law governing colleges and universities. “Often, we just talk about the tuition costs and dealing with that,” she says. “It has to be broader than that— [it has to be] all of the costs that come to a student as they try to complete college, including food and housing.”
•  Sara Goldrick-Rab, a higher-education professor at Temple University and a leading scholar on campus hunger, put it more bluntly. The report shows “that food insecurity is a college-completion issue,” she says. “We’re undermining our federal investment in financial aid by not paying attention to this. We have to stop pretending like living expenses are not educational expenses.”

Keep an eye out in the next few weeks for how you can help support Retriever Essentials as we begin taking steps toward institutionalization and securing sustainable support for our students years to come.