It’s not hard to find a throughline weaving across American University’s units and departments. From their dedication in the classroom to the services they administer, AU faculty and staff are united in their care for students.
This is why a new Finish Line Initiative match opportunity holds such resonance.
To help power Change Can’t Wait towards its close this summer, —AU’s free food pantry—are being matched dollar-for-dollar up to $25,000 through June 30.
The Market is entirely funded by donations and represents direct-to-student support in action. Its ethos is simple: students should never go hungry or skip meals because they can’t afford enough to eat.
A Lifeline for Student Nutrition
Stocked with fruits, vegetables, grains, proteins, and dairy, the Market is a free resource for AU students facing food security. Students are welcome to fill one grocery bag per week with their choice of food items.
The Market’s new location in Mary Graydon Center (MGC) 134 comes as part of the Student Thriving Complex project and improves capacity and accessibility. New refrigerators have expanded the Market’s offerings to include meat, tofu, frozen vegetables, cheese, and other perishable refrigerated and frozen food items.
Central to the Market’s mission is meeting the full spectrum of student need—free from any harmful myths or assumptions surrounding food insecurity and who it affects.
Demand for the Market has yet to return to pre-COVID 19 levels with usage rates growing each year. Amidst inflation and rising food prices, more and more AU students rely on the Market’s shelves of food and personal care items to supply or supplement their grocery needs. AU staff and student workers also provide meal planning and nutrition guidance.
The Market’s role on campus makes it an increasingly vital touchpoint for student services and the Division of Student Affairs.
A need-blind intake form asks students to self-assess their level of food insecurity, allowing AU staff to identify at-risk students and connect them with more permanent resources including the AU Student Emergency Relief Fund and support funds offered across AU’s schools and colleges. If the intake form raises certain flags, students will be immediately transferred to the Dean of Students for comprehensive services.
Direct-to-Student Donations
According to Sarah Beamish, Associate Director of Annual Giving, support for the Market is directly seen and felt by students. And while the Market welcomes donated grocery items, financial gifts carry an outsized impact thanks to the Market’s partnership with the Capital Area Food Bank.
“We always like to highlight that a single gift of $25 to the Market feeds an AU student for two weeks,” says Beamish. “By taking advantage of the Capital Area Food Bank’s network of suppliers, gifts of cash stretch much further than gifts-in-kind.”
Through the Finish Line Initiative—the final charge of the Change Can’t Wait campaign—the $25,000 match challenge for faculty and staff holds transformative potential to nearly double the Market’s budget.
For Devang Rai, Kogod/MS ’23— an AU alum and current Salesforce analyst in the Office of Information Technology—supporting the Market is personal.
“The Market helped me a lot with quality free groceries during my tenure as an international student,” says Rai. “It [represents] what humans need: food, shelter, and home.”
It was important for Rai as an AU staff member to pay it forward to the Market. “I saw an opportunity to give back, so I did,” he explains.
to the Market to take advantage of the Finish Line Initiative’s dollar-for-dollar match through June 30 to assist students facing food insecurity.
