By: Emma Morrison
NAIT students struggling to afford food in their student budget have access to a discreet and easily accessible food centre.
The NAITSA Food Centre is essentially a food bank for the students of NAIT. Students receive three to five days worth of food in each of the two hampers they receive. The hampers include basic foods like canned tuna, beans and soup. The food can also vary depending on what the centre receives in donations.
Valentyna Burakovska is the U-Pass and Food Centre specialist at NAIT.
“I also include sprinkles if I know it’s the students birthday,” said Burakovska.
During the holiday season, the food centre also accepted toys and presents for recipients of the hampers to wish them a Merry Christmas.
The process is very simple and easy for those who wish to apply for a food hamper.
- Head to naitsa.ca.
- Click on Service Hub and in the drop down menu select the food centre
- Lastly, click on ‘request a hamper here’ and fill out the form
NAITSA Food Centre
It takes 24 hours for them to process a request and get back to the client. The NAITSA food centre is also available to provide other resources to help students.
“They just basically grabbed the bag and leave make it so easy for them. We make sure that students feel comfortable so they won’t feel embarrassed,” said Burakovska.
If a student doesn’t need a food hamper they can help their fellow students by donating. The food centre takes non-perishable items like canned soup, beans, and cereal. They also accept toiletries, toys and even sprinkles for baking. After a student or their program collect the donations, they can drop the items off at the NAITSA office or E131.
The NAITSA Food Centre also has a trick or treat event in October. This year they received over 3,000 pounds worth of non-perishable food. They hope to beat that amount at next year’s trick or treat event.
