Need a Need Met?

By: Ella Colwell

As a third year student at Evergreen, I’ve always turned to the Basic Needs Center when my dining bucks get low. it’s saved me a lot of financial hardship and has served as a place where I could learn about resources in Olympia. As many students face the loss of government assistance programs, the Basic Needs Center can help fill this gap, operating as a place for any student to receive help with food, clothing, hygiene supplies, pet items, and more! The hours for this Fall quarter are 1:00 PM to 5:00 PM drop-in, on Mondays and Wednesdays and 1:00 PM to 5:00 PM on Fridays by appointment only. Every 2nd and 4th Tuesday of the month, the Basic Needs Center partners with the Thurston County Food Bank to give food to the entire community from 2:00 PM to 4:00 PM.You do not need to be a student to access resources from the foodbank. For November, due to the break, the Basic Needs Center will be having their partnered food bank day on the 18th. With the holidays just around the corner, you can expect ‘Holiday Boxes’ available by request to bring home with you. The Holiday Boxes will contain everything you need for a typical Thanksgiving meal, but with a chicken instead of a turkey. The boxes will also contain other items such as stuffing, mashed potatoes, and pie crust. A similar event is expected to happen around December, depending on the level of support the Basic Needs Center receives.

While food assistance is one of the main reasons students go to the Basic Needs Center, students can also receive help with housing, gift cards, and professional clothing. For students with housing concerns, Basic Needs Center staff will help connect you to resources, especially if you’re facing an on-campus housing crisis. Their new gift card program allows students to get up to 3 gift-cards a quarter, either for Safeway or Dollar Tree. These gift-cards help students buy gas, groceries, toiletries, and whatever else they deem necessary. If you ever need clothes for a specific event, the Basic Needs Center is overflowing with clothing donations. They have everything from dresses to snow boots! As a Basic Needs Center employee remarked, “We had a lot of students come in for a lot of different reasons,” They continued, “We had a student come in because their glasses broke, and we just sat there and helped figure out what their options were.”

As The Evergreen State College continues to face budget cuts, support from students is vital in keeping the Basic Needs Center running. Students and community members can support the Basic Needs Center with monetary donations through their website at: https://www.evergreen.edu/academics/experiential-learning/centers-institutes/community-based-learning/basic-needs-center/donate

As well as volunteer at: https://www.evergreen.edu/academics/centers-institutes/community-based-learning/volunteer

The Basic Needs Center is here to support the Evergreen community throughout the winter months, meeting students where they are, and ensuring everyone has what they need.

Easy Basic Needs Center Dorm Recipes:

This recipe list uses foods commonly found at the Basic Needs Center, their stock rotates based on what is available and this list is not representative of its current stock.

Tuna/Chicken Salad

1 can of Tuna or Chicken
⅓ cup of chopped vegetable (celery, onion, parsley recommended)
⅓ cup of mayonnaise
1 tablespoon of mustard
Pepper and salt to taste

Mix all ingredients together
Enjoy as a dip for chips, on a sandwich, or by itself

Mac and Cheese w/ Green Beans

1 can of green beans
1 box of mac and cheese
Pepper and salt to taste
1 tablespoon of butter

Drain half of the liquid from the canned green beans
Prepare green beans in a skillet with butter, let the rest of the liquid from the green beans simmer.
Cook green beans for about 10 minutes
Prepare mac and cheese according to the box directions
Put everything on a plate together and eat!

Peanut Butter and Jelly Sandwich