Virginia Reeves, sister of Sr. Catherine Howard, cuts the ribbon on the new Sr. Catherine Howard Food Pantry. College President Sr. Mary Eileen O’Brien is on the right.
A new food pantry for students has opened on the Dominican College campus. A ribbon-cutting ceremony for the Sr. Catherine Howard Food Pantry took place on Friday, September 27, 2019. The pantry is located in the Sullivan Library and is open on Tuesdays from 1 p.m. to 5 p.m. and on Thursdays from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m.
Melissa Leigh Grau, Director of Community Engagement & Leadership Development, said the goal is to help students so they are able to pursue an education with as few barriers as possible. “Students who self-identify as needing food assistance, as well as students referred by faculty or staff, will have access to shelf-stable food staples, as well as on-the-go snacks like granola bars and peanut butter,” she said.
Social work students Jhanya Squires and Arabia Shearn (left to right) both worked to get the Sr. Catherine Howard Food Pantry up and running in the Sullivan Library.
Grau said her office is working with the Social Work Department and the Dominican Sisters of Blauvelt on the project. The Sisters have donated money from several fundraisers toward the pantry, which is staffed by a social work intern. The pantry was named in honor of Sr. Catherine Howard, who served as president of The Sisters of St. Dominic of Blauvelt and as a College trustee. The talented administrator and social worker died on November 9, 2018. She is remembered for her dedication, kindness, and selflessness.