SEATTLE — Just blocks from the University of Washington, people shuffle in a line toward a food pantry, awaiting handouts such as milk and bread.
For years, the small University District pantry has offered help to the working poor and single parents in this neighborhood of campus rentals. Now rising food prices are bringing another group: struggling college students.
“Right now, with things the way they are, a lot of students just can’t afford to eat,” said Terry Capleton, who started a Face book group called “I Ain’t Afraid to Be on Food Stamps” when he was a student at Benedict College in South Carolina.
Some of the students are working their way through college with grants, loans and part-time jobs. Others are just reluctant to ask parents for more money.
“More and more, it’s just the typical traditional student, about 18 to 22, that’s feeling this crunch,” said Larry Brickner-Wood, director of the Cornucopia Food Pantry at the University of New Hampshire.
At the University District pantry in Seattle, demand has risen roughly 25 percent this year.
About 150 students visit each week during the school year.
