The Bear Pantry

Some of you may know I have a daughter in her senior year at UC Berkeley. She and her two kids have been living at UC Village, a housing complex for student families. So she's been in a position to know firsthand how difficult it can be to have to juggle not only your classes and studying and working but also the needs of a family. And she knows what disasters can happen when things like paperwork and computer records get fouled up and a student loan payment or grant doesn't arrive when expected. Then if student fees, including rent, aren't current, you can't sign up for the classes you need to be a full time student to qualify you for your next loan disbursement, and - then what? So many problems to get through, so much frustration and stress, but especially so if children are in the picture. Sometimes all you needed was to make it through another week, but how?

Until just recently there was no safety net for these little emergencies that happened too frequently. Many of the students themselves are from low-income families not in a position to offer much help. And while the University's top officials paid themselves sinfully fat paychecks, there was nothing to help the most struggling of struggling students. So my daughter, being her mother's daughter, came up with a plan.

She designed a proposal that has turned into an ongoing project. Since the California Bear is UC's mascot, she tagged this project "The Bear Pantry", recruited volunteers to help locate, collect and stockpile enough food to get student families over the hump. Contributions and a dedicated storage space were solicited and found. Protocols and guidelines were set down, a website and even a PayPal account established for donations. And finally, the Bear Pantry opened for business.

Click here to see it. And check out that cute Mama Bear and Baby Bear logo; I'd like to take credit for it, but she came up with that too.