GK Campus Connect Food Bank passionate about service to students
Published:Saturday | October 18, 2025 | 12:06 AMKeisha Hill/Senior Gleaner Writer
OVER 300 students at the University of Technology (UTech), The University of the West Indies, Mona (UWI) and the Edna Manley College of the Visual and Performing Arts continue to benefit from the GraceKennedy Campus Connect Food Bank, as the organisation continues to assist students in a multifaceted way at the tertiary level.
Many students are hard pressed to access healthy, nutritious meals, as any financial assistance they receive is geared towards covering tuition, books, and other education-related expenses. There are many students who face hunger on a daily basis, and this initiative addresses food insecurity, one of the critical issues affecting tertiary level students.
According to Caroline Mahfood, chief executive officer at the GraceKennedy Foundation, the organisation has built sustainability into the GK Campus Connect Food Bank by partnering with GraceKennedy subsidiaries and other Jamaican companies committed to supporting students in need.
“Through these ongoing partnerships, we are confident that the food bank will continue to provide vital support for university students in the future,” Mahfood said.
The GK Campus Connect Food Bank, Mahfood said, is designed to ensure that the students who are most in need can access support with ease.
“Beneficiaries are primarily referred through campus financial aid offices, which verify genuine need, and we also work closely with student unions and guilds, who help identify students facing hardship. This method ensures that the f ood bank remains accessible, targeted, and fair, while also upholding dignity and confidentiality for the students it serves,” Mahfood said.
The food bank provides students with a balanced package of grocery essentials each month, including staples like rice, flour, oats, pasta, canned meats and vegetables, soups, milk, and cooking oil.
These items are chosen to be nutritious, filling, and versatile, allowing students to prepare multiple meals. To ensure fairness, all beneficiaries receive a standard package, with additional support provided in special cases where the need is especially great.
Many of the beneficiaries rely on the food packages not only for themselves but also to provide for their families.
The GK Campus Connect Food Bank was established in April 2019 at the UWI. The brainchild of Norval Mendez and Claudine Reid, the GK Campus Connect Food Bank started with Mendez and Reid who, as UWI undergraduates, were providing small food packages to needy students under the ‘Hands Across the Hall Action Project’.
However, because of the overwhelming demand, they soon realised that the need was greater than their means. They decided to approach GraceKennedy with a proposal to implement the project on a larger scale.
Since its inception, the food bank initiative has provided food items to over 7,700 students and has also supported feeding programmes at UWI and UTech for students living on campus and during examination periods.
Jizelle Walcott, food bank coordinator at the GraceKennedy Foundation, said the food bank, while a relatively new concept to Jamaica, is necessary. “We want to ensure that we are giving back to our next generation of leaders, and this is just one of the ways. While we are funded by donations from businesses across the GraceKennedy Group and the Jamaican private sector, more support is needed as we continue to assist students monthly, one care package at a time,” Walcott said.
Malika Lyttle, final-year dean’s list recipient and GraceKennedy scholar reading for an undergraduate degree in biomedical engineering, attested to the programme’s impact.
“The food bank has been very beneficial to me. I spend a lot of money on components for engineering projects that I participate in. Instead of having to worry about paying for food on top of those expenses, I am able to access food from the food bank that’s actually nutritious and good for my well-being,” Lyttle said.