Texas Border Business
BROWNSVILLE, TX – Texas Southmost College and Walmart teamed up to provide students with 200 bags of free groceries during TSC’s Welcome Week Back-to-School Brain Food event. Funded through a Walmart Community Grant from the local Walmart on Boca Chica Boulevard, the initiative was designed to help combat food insecurity among students on campus.
“At Texas Southmost College, we are dedicated to student success and working to remove barriers to seeking a college education.” said TSC President Jesús Roberto Rodríguez, Ph.D. “There are many obstacles that students may face while pursuing their goals, and hunger should not be one of them.”
Rodriguez noted that while TSC is already the most affordable institution of higher education in the Rio Grande Valley, sometimes students need a little extra assistance.
“Through community partnerships, such as this one with Walmart, we can expand students’ access to wrap-around support services that make a big difference in helping them stay on track towards graduation,” he said. “Our students need to know the Scorpion Family is here for them.”
The Walmart Community Grant program provides funding to support community needs in regions served by Walmart stores, Sam’s Club stores and corporate distribution centers. Each bag distributed to students included canned goods, soups, fruit, pasta, breakfast items and snacks.
TSC business major Aldo Morales said the Back-to-School Brain Food provides welcome support, especially for students like him who share in their family’s financial responsibilities. The 29-year-old student also works as a Walmart cashier.
“This event has been a great opportunity for students like me,” he said. “I’m working toward graduating and becoming successful so I can take care of my mom, and this lends a hand in achieving my goal. Thank you, Walmart and TSC, for giving us a fighting chance.”
Morales expects to earn his associate degree in business in May 2022.
Nationwide, approximately 42% of two-year college students experience food insecurity, and the rate is slightly higher at TSC at 50%, according to The Hope Center for College, Community, and Justice at Temple University.
Mario Rodriguez, digital coach at Walmart on Boca Chica, said he is proud that Walmart is playing an active role in fighting against food insecurity for local students at TSC.
“Not only does the food that TSC and Walmart are providing during this event help the student, but it also helps their families,” he said. “We (Walmart) are part of this community, and we work to help make our community a better place for everyone and so everyone has equal access to life-changing opportunities like higher education.”
The Back-to-School Brain Food event is one of several anti-poverty initiatives in development at TSC through the AmeriCorps Volunteers In Service To America (VISTA) program. TSC VISTAs conducted research, applied for the grant, and hosted the event with the Student Services division.
“We’re here to help students find success by providing the resources they need on campus,” said VISTA Retention Specialist of Anti-Poverty Services Abigail Folker. “Their job is to focus on their studies to graduate and start careers. Our job is to get them there.”
