Queens Farm's First Food Drive Supports Queens College Students

FLORAL PARK, QUEENS — The Queens County Farm Museum launched its first food drive Sunday, which will help tens of thousands of Queens College students who are going hungry.

Throughout December, donors may drop off packaged, non-perishable food items at the farm's store.

Suggestions include canned fish and lean meats, nut butters, soups and stews, whole grain bread, cereal, crackers, rice, pasta, oatmeal, canned or dried beans, sauces and gravy and packaged fruit and vegetables.

"Now that the growing season is over, we see this food drive as an extension of our work to help feed New Yorkers," Jennifer Walden Weprin, executive director of the Queens County Farm Museum, said in a statement.

The food drive will benefit the food pantry at Queens College, where an estimated 52,550 undergraduate students skipped a meal or went hungry because they didn't have enough money for food, or were worried they would run out of food, a 2018 CUNY survey on food security found.

"In New York City, no college student should have to choose between staying in school or having enough to eat," CUNY School of Public Health professor Nicholas Freudenberg, the survey's lead researcher, said in a statement. "Together, we can ensure that all CUNY students have the resources they need to meet their nutritional needs while pursuing their academic goals."

Donations will be accepted at the Queens Farm's Farm Store during regular operating hours Monday to Sunday, 10 a.m. to 5 p.m.