Food Pantry Opening At Church Near UMass Darmouth

A church near the University of Massachusetts-Dartmouth campus is opening a food pantry to assist an increasing number of students who choose to pay tuition rather than buy food.

A test pantry will open for a week in December at the Dartmouth Bible Church. The Rev. Neil Damgaard says by next spring, a pantry should be established permanently.

He tells The Standard-Times the problem appears particularly acute among graduate students and international students.

The pantry is being put together alongside a related project: the reopening of a large garden on campus. The garden will produce some of the food that will be distributed at the pantry and will include herbs, fruits and berries.

A spokeswoman for the Massachusetts Department of Higher Education says pantries operate at several other state colleges.