Commonwealth University chosen as a $60,000 recipient of Governor's Hunger Free Campus grant

The Pennsylvania Department of Education has awarded $1 million in PA Hunger-Free Campus grants to combat student hunger on campuses across the state. Commonwealth University was among the grant recipients, receiving $60,000 - the highest amount given to only five of the 30 institutions that received the grant in the 2026-27 academic year.

The grant, which was first awarded to CU during the 2022-23 academic year, will help the CU campuses at Bloomsburg, Lock Haven, Mansfield and Clearfield with providing pantry services to students, food purchases and upgrades to their existing facilities. It will also allow the university to focus resources where they are most needed, and not simply equally distributing the funds across campuses. 

Dr. Tiffany Welch, professor of social work at Mansfield, and Dr. Tulare Park, assistant professor of social work at Lock Haven, were the co-authors of the grant.
"I am super excited to learn that Commonwealth University was awarded these funds because we all know that when our learners basic needs are met, they can remain focused on their academics," Welch said. "Focus on academics leads to degree completion, and degree completion leads to lives being changed and dreams being achieved."

The grant was also written to specifically address the shortage and high need among CU students for culturally appropriate self-care and hygiene items, which was a direct result of student feedback at the campuses. The funds will also allow the university to host on-campus events geared toward decreasing the stigma associated with food insecurities and the importance of community partnerships.

Park and Welch also completed the Hunger Free Campus Survey in fall 2025 through The Hope Center for Student Basic Needs as part of the university's participation as a Hope Impact Partner. CU first became connected with The Hope Center through their first Hunger Free Campus Grant. 

"That data was instrumental to us getting this grant as it helped to show the true need of our own students," Welch said.

"Our hope for our learners is that by knowing that they have a place they can go to on campus to have their basic needs met, both food and hygiene, with no questions asked, decreases stress and allows the learners to remain focused on what they are here for, degree completion," Welch added. "I am so grateful to work for an institution that supports these efforts and recognizes the importance of continuing to meet the basic needs of its learners without question or judgment."

For more information about food insecurity and the resources that Commonwealth University offers its students, visit www.commonwealthu.edu/cupboard.