SAN LUIS OBISPO, CA – In another step to help ensure every student has access to nutritious meals each day so they can stay focused on their studies, Campus Dining and partner Vitco Foods are donating 80 meals per month to the Cal Poly Food Pantry.
Vitco Foods started delivering the frozen meals to the Food Pantry on Jan. 12.
“A large percentage of our students often go without meals, and Campus Dining is committed to doing our part to help where we can,” Campus Dining Registered Dietitian Kelsey McCourt said. “With this new program we can help CP Essentials and the Food Pantry continue their amazing work in support of students.”
The meals will continue a donation program that began spring 2020 and has seen increased interest from students. Following feedback from the Food Pantry, Campus Dining approached Vitco Foods about increasing the number of meals and making their donations a regular accommodation and they didn’t hesitate. Now 20 meals are donated every Monday.
“We know that students struggle with food insecurity and we want to do anything we can to help,” said Vitco Foods Founder Kostas Vitakis, who earned his degree in Agriculture Business Marketing from Cal Poly in 1999. “We’re in SLO, we’re members of the community, many of us are alumni, and to be able to serve and support students, students who will graduate and go out to make the world a better place, well that’s huge for us and we’re happy to do it.”
Founded in San Luis Obispo by Vitakis, Vitco Foods is a restaurant supplier.
This donation program is the most recent in a line of initiatives that Campus Dining leads to support students in need. One of the most popular programs is Mustang Meal Share, which allows students on a dining plan to donate to fellow students. Feed Cal Poly is another program that gives all customers the opportunity to donate to CP Essentials at the register of any Campus Dining venue.
McCourt, who joined the team in 2019, has helped to further Campus Dining’s involvement with CP Essentials, most recently partnering with Campus Health and Wellbeing in participating in Hunger and Homelessness Awareness Week last November. During that week McCourt helped distribute 125 pre-packaged meals.
