Thea’s Pantry provides food and other essentials to students, staff, and faculty in need. Run from the Student Center on campus, the pantry provides a confidential service for those in need. The only requirement for making use of the pantry is possession of a Worcester State OneCard.
The pantry was established to help address the plight of students who experience food insecurity so they can stay focused on their studies and successfully complete their education. The food-pantry effort has involved students from the SNAP practicum, which awards course credit to students who help in the campus SNAP office and other projects; Worcester State Enactus, an entrepreneurial club that’s very involved with community service; and the Urban Studies Club, which works on several anti-hunger and community initiatives.
The SNAP office provides students with peer support in a safe, confidential space. SNAP (Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program), the program formerly known as food stamps, provides food purchasing assistance for low- and no-income people, including students. The office provides information about the program and participant eligibility, and accepts applications for SNAP benefits. For more information contact the Snap Office in the Urban Studies Department.
The pantry is named after Thea Aschkenase, a 2007 alumna of Worcester State University who was a life-long advocate against hunger. Aschkenase was a Holocaust survivor who was liberated from the Auschwitz concentration camp in 1945. She and her husband, Efraim, immigrated to Worcester in 1954. At age 92, she authored a memoir, Remembering: A Holocaust Survivor Shares Her Life.
In addition to being a voice of remembrance of the Holocaust, she also made it her mission to help others. She graduated with a degree in Urban Studies in her early 80s and, through her connection with the Intergenerational Urban Institute, volunteered to help hungry children and adults gain access to nutritious food.
