Students grabbed free fruits and vegetables from tables outside of the Health and Life Sciences building during the first Wellness Wednesday event of the semester. 

Some picked up nicotine patches and stop-smoking literature from another table during the two-hour event, which featured Hungry Harvest, a food giveaway by the campus food pantry, and the Health and Wellness Center. 

“It means everything, because, you know, sometimes you don’t have food at the house and sometimes you just need some fruit to get you energized,” Amir Smith, a second-year kinesiology student, said. 

The Health and Wellness Center sponsors an open gym for students to work out or play sports  every Wednesday throughout the semester. Once a month, The Office of Student Engagement and the campus food pantry will join the Wellness Wednesday event, which will focus on sleep in October, exercise in November, and stress in December, according to Stephanie Jenkins, the center’s director.

“One of the many ways that we work to ensure that none of our students are food insecure is by  hosting markets like this to supplement and ensure they have access to produce,” Caitlin Silver, the college’s basic needs coordinator, said.

Students who attended the event said they enjoyed this week’s event.

Smith said he would attend future events “especially if I need, like, an orange or a fruit or just an extra little snack to get me through the day.” 

“Natural produce is expensive, so having access to it’s good for our bodies,” Abby Popp, a third-year environmental science student, agreed.