As classes and extracurriculars start up again with the spring semester, the issue of finding enough food can be a burden to many students at Colorado State University. 

Rams Against Hunger helps students with this issue. 

Thea Rounsaville, assistant director of Annual Giving, wrote in an email to The Collegian that Rams Against Hunger provides nutritious meals from the CSU dining halls to students who qualify for the program.

“Since the start of the program over five years ago, it has been funded thanks to the generosity of almost 6,500 donors — ranging from students, faculty and staff, parents, alumni and friends of the University,” Rounsaville wrote. 

Students who suffer from food insecurity can struggle when it comes to grades and making it to graduation. So Rams Against Hunger hopes to help, Rounsaville wrote.

You don’t hear much about students who need food, but they definitely exist. It’s great that CSU has resources for them.” –Stephanny Ramirez, CSU junior

“We have been able to definitively prove that students struggling with food insecurity who receive support from the program are more likely to earn higher grades, stay in school and make it to graduation compared to students who are waitlisted for the program,” Rounsaville wrote.

Students who are interested in the program can apply on Rams Against Hunger’s website, and students who do not struggle with food insecurity can also find ways to help.

“Over the years, students have been some of our greatest supporters of the program,” Rounsaville wrote. 

Students can donate money that goes toward supplying fellow students with meals, Rounsaville wrote. Fourteen dollars, for instance, would provide two whole meals for a fellow student.

In fact, more than $100,000 was raised for Rams Against Hunger Dec. 4, 2019, shattering previous donation records and providing 13,352 meals for students through the program, according to a SOURCE article published Dec. 5, 2019. 

“Another great way to support the cause is to volunteer for the mobile food pantry,” Rounsaville wrote. 

Stephanny Ramirez, a CSU junior business administration major, said that while she doesn’t personally need the program’s resources, the program sounds amazing for students in need.

“You don’t hear much about students who need food, but they definitely exist,” Ramirez said. “It’s great that CSU has resources for them.”

It’s been incredible to watch the tremendous impact this program has had over the years, and I am excited to see the ways it can grow in the future.” -Thea Rounsaville, assistant director, Annual Giving

Ramirez also said she would be interested in volunteering for the program in the future.

Rounsaville wrote that the program has been extremely helpful for students in the past.

“I’ve been able to interview student meal recipients and hear their stories of the intense difficulties of living with food insecurity and then the ways their lives have changed for the better because they had access to a few nutritious meals a week,” Rounsaville wrote. 

Rounsaville also wrote that donors who have provided to the program — whether they have donated $25 or $25,000 — have been an immense help to the program and, ultimately, to the students who rely on the program. 

“The donors that support Rams Against Hunger are some of the kindest and most generous people I’ve ever met,” Rounsaville wrote. “It’s been incredible to watch the tremendous impact this program has had over the years, and I am excited to see the ways it can grow in the future.”

Ceci Taylor can be reached at news@collegian.com or on Twitter @cecelia_twt.