El Camino College presented a Warrior Harvest Festival on Nov. 19 where 200 students received free Thanksgiving meal kits. The well-attended event also featured a resource fair with representatives from the Warrior Pantry, Warrior Closet, CalFresh, and more! Students had access to free clothing, snack bags, and assistance in filling out the CalFresh application. All students were invited to join this event designed to help them get ready for the holiday season. Some students who attended said that the Harvest Festival allowed them to celebrate a traditional Thanksgiving, when otherwise they would not have the resources to do so. Event sponsors included Ralphs, Smart & Final and Food4Less.
Campus events such as the Warrior Harvest Festival help meet basic needs and close equity gaps so that students can be successful in their classes. El Camino College's Food and Shelter Task Force recently expanded to provide referrals to subsidized Metro U-Passes, information about CalFresh and access to a guidebook that offers free or low-cost resources to mental health, transitional housing, and legal services, to name a few.