{"id":204930,"date":"2026-04-21T17:30:13","date_gmt":"2026-04-21T17:30:13","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/204930\/"},"modified":"2026-04-21T17:30:13","modified_gmt":"2026-04-21T17:30:13","slug":"st-johns-university-created-vincents-table-for-students","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/204930\/","title":{"rendered":"St. John’s University Created Vincent’s Table for Students"},"content":{"rendered":"

JAMAICA \u2014 When Crystal DiBenedetto was a\u00a0junior\u00a0at St. John\u2019s University<\/a>\u00a0last year, she looked around the student dining hall one night and noticed a fellow student holding a piece of bread and spreading a tiny\u00a0portion\u00a0of peanut butter on it.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n

The two got to\u00a0talking, and DiBenedetto learned from the student that they\u00a0didn\u2019t\u00a0have enough money to buy a full meal. She realized in that moment\u00a0that\u00a0something should be done to help students\u00a0facing\u00a0food insecurity.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cI thought, \u2018Oh wow.\u00a0I\u2019m\u00a0not the only student here\u00a0who\u2019s\u00a0facing this or did face this,\u201d\u00a0she\u00a0recalled, explaining that she\u00a0has\u00a0struggled to make ends meet\u00a0in the past. \u201cThere\u2019s something that needs to be done.\u201d\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n

DiBenedetto,\u00a0now a senior,\u00a0is a student advocate\u00a0who\u00a0worked with the university\u2019s Food Insecurity Task Force to create\u00a0Vincent\u2019s Table,\u00a0a\u00a0food\u00a0pantry\u00a0and\u00a0assistance\u00a0program\u00a0that offers\u00a0free\u00a0canned and packaged\u00a0foods, cooking utensils,\u00a0and toiletries to students experiencing\u00a0food insecurity and financial worries.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Named in honor of St. Vincent de Paul,\u00a0the pantry\u00a0officially launched in December\u00a0and\u00a0is open to all students, whether their food insecurity issues are temporary or long-term, said Mary-Elizabeth Sabo, director of residential education and basic needs at the university.\u00a0The program\u00a0subsists on monetary\u00a0and food\u00a0donations.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n

In March, the program\u00a0assisted\u00a0114 students.\u00a0So far,\u00a0this\u00a0spring semester,\u00a0350\u00a0pounds of food\u00a0have\u00a0been donated.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/p>\n

The estimated percentage of college students (3.8 million) in the United States who experienced food insecurity in 2020 is 23%. \u00a0<\/p>\n

\u2014\u00a0U.S.\u00a0Government Accountability Office\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/p>\n

The program is designed to\u00a0provide\u00a0students\u00a0with\u00a0flexibility and empowerment, Sabo said.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\"\"\"\"Thanks to donations, the Vincent\u2019s Table program filled bags with breakfast ingredients to distribute to the university\u2019s students to help sustain them during Finals Week. Crystal DiBenedetto (left) and Mary-Elizabeth Sabo place the breakfast bags into bins in anticipation of the distribution. Sabo noted that each bag also includes personalized notes wishing students good luck on their exams. (Photo: Paula Katinas)<\/p>\n

Prior to opening Vincent\u2019s Table, organizers volunteered at St. John\u2019s Bread and Life<\/a>, a food pantry and social services\u00a0assistance\u00a0center in Bedford-Stuyvesant, to get a feel for how their program could\u00a0operate.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cWe really learned, through our partnership with Bread and Life, how dignity has to be at the forefront of what we\u2019re doing,\u201d Sabo explained.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n

Here\u2019s\u00a0how the program works:\u00a0Students register\u00a0and can place orders\u00a0using\u00a0a code system.\u00a0\u201cI think what sets us apart slightly, maybe from other food banks or food pantries, is our ability to customize,\u201d Sabo said.\u00a0<\/p>\n

The orders are then filled by volunteers\u00a0like Sabo,\u00a0who\u00a0either leave them\u00a0in the food pantry in Donovan Hall, a student residence, or in one of\u00a0the food\u00a0lockers on campus next to Amazon\u00a0lockers.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n

That is\u00a0deliberate, Sabo said. That way, no one knows if a student\u00a0is there to pick up a food order or something they ordered\u00a0from\u00a0Amazon.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Theisman\u00a0Erasme, a sophomore,\u00a0said Vincent\u2019s Table\u00a0is\u00a0a significant help.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cVincent\u2019s Table\u00a0is very convenient because I can\u2019t really spend\u00a0time\u00a0going to the store most of the time,\u201d he said, adding that his courses keep\u00a0him busy most days.\u00a0\u201cI like to stock up on the canned stuff because I stay home a lot\u00a0\u2026 and\u00a0I like to get the rice\u00a0and the beans because\u00a0they\u2019re\u00a0also easy to cook.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n

According to Sabo, there are already plans to expand Vincent\u2019s Table\u2019s services.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cThe beauty\u00a0of the\u00a0\u2026\u00a0whole community getting behind Vincent\u2019s Table and supporting our students, is that we\u2019re looking to partner\u00a0with our law students, where the law students\u00a0can help our students as they\u2019re navigating applying for SNAP<\/a>\u00a0(Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program)\u00a0benefits,\u00a0FAFSA (Free Application for Federal Student\u00a0\u00a0Aid), or filling out their taxes,\u201d she explained.\u00a0<\/p>\n

DiBenedetto\u00a0expects word of mouth\u00a0to\u00a0spread\u00a0across the St. John\u2019s campus,\u00a0with\u00a0more students signing\u00a0up\u00a0for Vincent\u2019s Table\u00a0over\u00a0time:\u00a0\u201cI definitely see in the future how much this is going to grow.\u201d<\/p>\n

HOW TO HELP\u00a0
<\/p>\n

To donate\u00a0to\u00a0the\u00a0Vincent\u2019s Table program, visit:\u00a0 support.stjohns.edu\/campaigns\/73682\u00a0<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"JAMAICA \u2014 When Crystal DiBenedetto was a\u00a0junior\u00a0at St. John\u2019s University\u00a0last year, she looked around the student dining hall…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":204931,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[37],"tags":[9,24,63,122,124,123],"class_list":{"0":"post-204930","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-queens","8":"tag-new-york","9":"tag-new-york-city","10":"tag-nyc","11":"tag-queens","12":"tag-queens-headlines","13":"tag-queens-news"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/204930","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=204930"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/204930\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/204931"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=204930"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=204930"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=204930"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}