The university awarded roughly $200,000 for the partnerships so students could engage with the local organizations.
In a project titled Enhancing Mutual Aid Sharing During a Pandemic faculty and students are researching and analyzing food sharing at several cabinets that have been placed at various locations in Tompkins County.
Mutual aid food sharing has increased around the country. New York City and Southern California are just a few examples of places where community members have set up and stocked community refrigerators.
"With the COVID-19 pandemic, we’ve seen that existing resources for people to get food — to get resources they need to be healthy — are strained. There is so much need and not enough help all the time," said Sonja Lockhart, a master of public health student. "This is a great opportunity for neighbors helping neighbors in a non-hierarchical way. It’s people helping other people and it’s reciprocal. It’s especially important now. Rates of food insecurity are going up."