CA Attorney General Rob Bonta visited Teddy’s Pantry on the CSUDH campus on Feb. 6 to see how College Corps fellows are making a difference in the lives of students facing food insecurity and other challenges that affect their academic success and overall wellbeing.
The pantry is part of a broader umbrella of services available through the Toro CARE program, which provides critical support for students’ basic needs—food, housing, mental health services, and emergency financial assistance—and removes barriers that can impede academic, emotional, or social progress.
College Corps fellows and other volunteers help students get the food they need at the pantry through a system that follows the Instacart model, says Toro CARE Director Candice Bangura, who conducted a tour for Bonta, CSUDH President Thomas A. Parham, and Josh Fryday, appointed by Gov. Gavin Newsom in 2019 as head of California Volunteers, which administers the College Corps program.
“Teddy’s Pantry is a one-stop shop for students who need food support,” Bangura explained during the tour. “Students come in and use their phones to scan a QR code, register, sign in, and then answer a few questions: When is the last time you ate? How often do you have regular access to meals?”
Once registered, students get 15 points each week to exchange for fresh fruit and produce, meat and fish, packaged staples, canned goods, and hygiene products such as deodorant and toothpaste. Students can also stop in each day to get two snack items.
Following the tour, CSUDH student and College Corps fellow Jesse Rosales introduced Bonta and Fryday to a gathering of students, community partners, and other guests, including Jose Fierro, president of Cerritos College, which has a cross-enrollment partnership with CSUDH for those interested in the College Corps program.
“This is not just a program,” Rosales said. “It’s a movement that brings students together from diverse backgrounds to complete a shared mission to serve our communities, uplift those in need, and develop as leaders in the process.”
Before introducing Bonta and Fryday, Parham thanked CSUDH’s College Corps fellows for choosing to serve. “Our College Corps students are ambassadors for good. You make a difference in the lives of the people you touch. The mission and spirit of California State University, Dominguez Hills is enhanced by your presence.”
CSUDH currently has 91 fellows serving at 15 different community partner sites, Parham added. “Since we started our College Corps program in 2022, we’ve had 264 Dominguez Hills student fellows, with 84,534 hours of service given to address challenges in communities in and around our region.”
The College Corps program has nearly 50 partner university and college campuses across California. Student fellows earn up to $10,000 to help fund their education in return for 450 hours of service during the academic year in one of three key service areas: K-12 education, climate action, and food insecurity.
It was a strong desire to address housing and economic insecurity as a college student, Bonta said in his address to students and stakeholders, that inspired him to seek a life in public service and a career pursuing justice for overlooked and disenfranchised communities.
“I think societies should be judged by how they treat their most vulnerable members—seniors, children, the sick, the poor—and how they lift them up and fight for them. You are part of that,” he said.
“We are in a world now, a nation for sure, where there’s a lot of division as to who we are, who we’re fighting for, what we care about. And I believe very strongly that our only pathway forward is together.”
