Swipe Out Hunger Joins Forces with LG to Provide Healthy Meals for 500,000 College Students, Raise Awareness About Food Insecurity on Campuses

LOS ANGELES, March 14, 2023 – Swipe Out Hunger, the leading nonprofit addressing student hunger, has joined forces with tech giant LG Electronics USA to help provide healthy meals to more than 500,000 college students struggling with food insecurity. LG is working with Swipe Out Hunger to help raise awareness about student food insecurity and to ensure that food pantries on campuses across the country have refrigeration to store healthy foods.

Research shows that one in three college students experiences food insecurity.* Many students on- and off-campus rely upon their campus food pantries to provide much-needed resources throughout the school year. Swipe Out Hunger says 29 percent of its campus pantry partners do not have refrigeration. A third of them cited lack of funding as the reason there is no refrigeration on campus. 

Campus refrigerators provide access to nutritious foods that help students stay focused on their studies and maintain active lifestyles, according to Swipe Out Hunger’s Executive Director Jaime Hansen. The refrigerators have “grab and go” meals, beverages, cooking staples, and access to fresh proteins and produce. 

LG Electronics is providing 120 refrigerator-freezers to 60 campuses in Swipe Out Hunger’s network. In addition to providing refrigeration for food pantries, the ENERGY STAR^® certified LG refrigerators help conserve energy, thus supporting sustainability goals of many colleges and universities.

LG will stock these fridges with healthy and nutritious food for these campuses’ communities, while providing grants for an additional 40 colleges and universities to upgrade their current campus refrigerators. In total, this alliance will serve meals to 500,000 college students across the United States. 

“LG’s collaboration with Swipe Out Hunger will transform the nutrition and availability of food for students experiencing hunger today and in the future,” said Hansen. “Access to fresh, nutritious food options will help students achieve their higher education goals.” 

“We are truly grateful for the support from LG and Swipe Out Hunger. It will allow us to add perishable items to our food pantry, something that wasn’t included before,” said Charlyne Yue, M.S., Senior Associate Director of Student Affairs at Southwestern Law School. “Thanks to their generosity, our students experiencing food insecurity will be able to focus on studying rather than worrying about their next meal.”

In light of the post-pandemic demand for campus pantries across the country, LG is inviting others to help fight food insecurity on U.S. college campuses. Starting this week, the company’s electronic billboard in Times Square in New York City includes a call-to-action through a QR Code where people can join LG in supporting the good work of Swipe Out Hunger. The campaign also will be promoted nationwide via social media.

“Working with Swipe Out Hunger aligns with our goal of a Better Life for All. Beyond providing refrigerators to campus food pantries for much-needed fresh food storage, LG is proud to support Swipe Out Hunger’s mission to end college student hunger,” said LG Electronics USA Senior Vice President John I. Taylor.

Over the past year, Swipe Out Hunger has granted more than $200,000 to college campuses. With this additional support from LG, together they will be able to reach even more students across the country. 

Help support these efforts at swipehunger.org/lg. 

* Swipe Out Hunger’s 2021 public report on college campus food pantries cites a study by the Hope Center for College, Community, and Justice, which found that 38% of students at two-year colleges and 29% of students at four-year colleges experienced food insecurity.

About Swipe Out Hunger

Swipe Out Hunger is the leading national nonprofit committed to ending college student hunger. Swipe Out Hunger collaborates with colleges and universities to promote on-campus solutions, policy and advocacy, and community building practices to address students impacted by food insecurity. Since 2010, Swipe Out Hunger has served 4.8 million meals across more than 550 campuses in all 50 states and Canada. For more information, visit swipehunger.org.

About LG Electronics USA 

LG Electronics USA, Inc., based in Englewood Cliffs, N.J., is the North American subsidiary of LG Electronics, Inc., a $68 billion global innovator in technology and manufacturing. In the United States, LG sells a wide range of innovative home appliances, home entertainment products, commercial displays, air conditioning systems, energy solutions and vehicle components. LG is a nine-time ENERGY STAR® Partner of the Year. The company’s commitment to environmental sustainability and its “Life’s Good” marketing theme encompass how LG is dedicated to people’s happiness by exceeding expectations today and tomorrow. www.LG.com.

Media Contact:

Janelle Raymundo
Director of Communications
Swipe Out Hunger
[email protected]