The SGA votes to support free lunch and financial literacy
By Kirk Hall
The Student Government Association (SGA) of Lane Community College’s Eugene campus (LCC) prioritized helping to fund a free lunch program on campus its Tuesday, Oct. 13, meeting, as well as a financial literacy event.
After a few procedural actions to start the meeting, the SGA promptly moved on to hear a presentation by Dawson Pruitt, a representative of NW Collegiate Ministries. This organization is responsible for providing FLOW, an acronym for Free Lunch on Wednesdays. FLOW has been a regular event on LCC’s campus for several years.
Pruitt said that despite self-funding the program in the past, this year his budget has been reduced. He said the reduced funding makes it difficult to provide the level of service that NW Collegiate Ministries has in the past. The total cost incurred by NW Collegiate Ministries for the program is about $2,300 this term. He requested $2,000 of SGA funds to help maintain the level of service and increase the quality of what is offered.
He explained that while FLOW started out serving about 75 students every Wednesday in the early years, that figure has now increased to as many as 115 students. Pruitt said that if the funding was granted, then it would help maintain the quality of the food for the additional meals served as well as add offerings like gluten-free and vegetarian options.
During the discussion the SGA weighed its options. Lane SGA Advisor Beccah Maley prompted the SGA to consider whether they would provide some, all, or none of the funding Pruitt was asking for. At least one SGA official supported funding the program because they liked the idea of providing a socio-economic service that was also a benefit to the community.
During the discussion, Pruitt said that he would be “grateful for whatever you allocate.”
Towards the end of discussion, Senator Emily Rudzitis proposed the idea to fund the requested $2,000 for this term only. She reasoned that only providing funding for this term would allow time for further consideration by the SGA before committing money to the SGA budget for the winter and spring terms.
Her proposal was met with support from other officials. Once discussion concluded, Vice President Clarissa Steele put the motion to a vote. The motion passed unanimously to funnel $2,000 of SGA funds to the FLOW program for the current fall quarter.
FLOW is offered every Wednesday for weeks 2 through 10 of the fall term in Center Building Commons 203 from 11:30 am to 1 pm.
Later in the meeting, attention turned to Senator Christina Smith who presented the status of a financial literacy presentation open to LCC students that she had been spearheading.
Smith proposed that the SGA sponsor the event by providing $100 in SGA funds for snacks and drinks at the in-person presentation on campus. When Sen. Rudzitis put the matter to a vote, the motion was approved unanimously to provide funding for the financial literacy event.
The event will be presented by SELCO Community Credit Union at a campus location to be determined on Nov. 5, from 2 pm to 3 pm. SGA is the sponsor with its commitment of $100 for snacks and drinks. The event will be co-hosted by Phi Theta Kappa (PTK) honor society and SELCO Community Credit Union.
