Pilar Ayala, an engineering student, grabs a few items from The Rack.
MORGANTOWN, W.Va. — A West Virginia University professor emeritus has created the Nath Student Food Pantry Endowment through the WVU Foundation to assist the University food bank, “The Rack.”
Joginder Nath retired from the University in 2009 after completing more than forty years of service as a genetics professor.
Nath said he read an article in a local newspaper about The Rack and was unaware of the growing demand for donated food items for WVU students.
“I had read in other newspapers that bigger universities were having issues with students who are unable to afford food,” Nath said. “I didn’t know that WVU had this problem.”
Nath met with The Rack’s program coordinators Jacqueline Dooley and Erica Bentley about setting up an endowment fund for the food bank.
“I was very excited about what they were doing and I wanted to do something because the students certainly need help,” he said.
Because of high tuition fees, book costs and living expenses, many students at WVU and other universities nationwide are foregoing meals to offset these costs.
“I thought that’s not fair, we should do what we can for the students,” Nath said.
Since the establishment of The Rack in 2010, the food pantry has assisted over 4,000 WVU students along with their dependents…
