Edmonds CC collects record-breaking 22,500 food donations to help feed hungry students

Edmonds Community College collected a record-breaking 22,512 food items through its third annual food drive. Donations were divided equally between the college’s food pantry and the Foundation for Edmonds School District’s Nourishing Network, which provides meals for hungry and homeless students in the school district.

Left to right: Stewart Sinning, Edmonds CC food pantry program manager; Dr. Terry Cox; Toan Nguyen and Bryce Villanueva, IT support technicians; Thame Fuller, director of Nourishing Network programs; and Eva Smith, executive director of IT and e-learning. Bottom: Rita Smart, IT support technician. Credit: Edmonds Community College

Dr. Terry Cox, Edmonds CC’s vice president for workforce development and training, started the food drive to address the gap in donations between the end of summer and the holiday season. 

“We are so grateful to Dr. Cox and everyone involved in this year’s cross-campus food drive,” said Deborah Brandi, executive director of the Foundation for Edmonds School District. “It’s a generous demonstration of our shared commitment to fight student hunger from kindergarten through college.” 

Twenty-three departments participated in the drive, with the college’s IT Services and Help Desk collecting the most items at 5,632.

“It's like winning the gold medal in the Olympics, even though it was a gold plastic trophy,” said Tina Torres, IT support manager. “Knowing that so many benefited from this competition is a wonderful feeling.”

The college’s donations to Nourishing Network will help stock food pantries at five local schools and support a weekend meal program. Every Friday, the Nourishing Network sends a bag of shelf-stable, single serving foods home with about 142 students in the district. Without this program, many students would not eat between meals provided at school on Friday and Monday.

For more information about the Nourishing Network and how to donate, visit foundationesd.org/nourishing-network.