Since the end of the COVID-19 pandemic, grocery prices have risen by 33 percent, and one out of ten people in an American household hasn’t had enough to eat in their past week. Unfortunately, all ages are affected, and those prices cause economic tensions in one’s life and stop them from reaching their full potential in the academic world. Fortunately, there are a ton of food banks everywhere in the world helping millions of people struggling to recover from the devastating blow of inflation and COVID. In fact, there is a program that provides help with food and more near Middle College High School, called the Fainburg Chase Thrive Center.

The Fainburg Chase Thrive Center, or the Thrive Center for short, is a basic needs program created by Santa Ana College to provide students the resources they need to live adequately so they can completely focus on their studies, featuring housing, jobs, food, and other basic necessities. Luckily, MCHS students are also given this privilege, yet most scholars take it for granted, not knowing about the opportunity or the full details of what they can be provided.

The Thrive Center’s main website details important information on all the different services the program provides.

The Thrive Center Food Pantry – The Thrive Center Food Pantry is the most famous part of the Thrive Center, where most MCHS students go to get snacks and groceries. It is located in room VL-206 near the Village.

Groceries consist of necessities, including spaghetti, vegetables, milk and eggs, canned foods, and more. Snacks consist of Slim Jims, water, chips, and snack bars. To get this free food, one must show their SAC ID. Students are permitted to get groceries once a week and snacks once per day. Although, on Tuesdays, the Thrive Center is closed.

Career Closet – The Career Closet is a small place in VL-208 with multiple professional and casual clothes to take. It was created to help students prepare and look good for interviews or have clothes if they can’t afford them. Not only do they have clothes, but they sometimes have other items like bags. There is a limit of three types of clothing and two accessories. Unlike the Thrive Center, walk-ins aren’t welcome. To be eligible for this, a form must be filled out.

Diaper Bank – The Diaper Bank can also be found in VL-208. Like the Career Closet, walk-ins are not allowed and another form must be completed. While it is only allowed for SAC parents, future MCHS alumni, and parents may need it in the future, and can help save a lot of money.

The Thrive Center Food Pantry, Career Closet, and Diaper Bank are the most relevant for MCHS students. But, there is still more important information to be acknowledged.

Admin Clerk of the Thrive Center, Paloma Alcibar, explains how all the food given out in the Thrive Center Food Pantry is thoroughly checked and approved for safe consumption.

“When we get food, we always inspect it and check the expiration date. If it’s produce, we make sure it doesn’t mold. If it’s expired we throw it away,” Alcibar said.

The Thrive Center also allows opportunities for people to volunteer and looks for employees to work there. It is also important to understand that to access the Diaper Program, Housing Resources, and the Career Closet, one must fill out forms on the Thrive Center’s main website.

Senior Katherine Alderete, who will be attending Harvard University in the Fall, describes how on Tuesdays, SAC and MCHS students can volunteer to help stock food on the Thrive Center’s delivery day. Of course, to volunteer, they have to apply to the Thrive Center’s volunteer program.

“For any volunteers at the Thrive Center, they only volunteer on Tuesdays, which is our delivery day. That is when we get our deliveries from Second Harvest Food Pantries as well as Bracken’s Kitchen (provider of healthy frozen meals). Most of what we do includes completing inventory of everything we receive and allocating how to stock for that upcoming week,” Alderete said.

It is also possible for MCHS students to work a job at the Thrive Center and earn money for themselves. Alderete elaborates on how she got this job through the SAC website and was interviewed. She also elaborates on the requirements to join.

“I applied for the job on the SAC website directly … I did do an interview for the job, but my supervisor mostly just wanted to see if I was an empathic person since we work with people in difficult situations. I think once you’re 16 you can work there because you still need to fill out a work permit and such. You can work in the Spring/Fall as long as you have 3 units, and you can work in the Summer if you are taking 3 summer units or 6 units in the following fall. I will not be working because I won’t be taking any more SAC classes once I graduate. Also, the Thrive Center is open all year, including summer and internship. We usually just have fewer employees since we have less visitors during those times. Because of this, the Thrive Center only ever hires at the beginning of Fall/Spring semesters,” Alderete said.

Alderete describes her experience as an employee at the Thrive Center.

“Wednesdays and Thursdays are very busy for ’Grocery’ visits, but Friday and Monday are much more busy for ’Snack’ visits. We also quality-check all the goods and purchase any essentials not received from the food pantry. On days besides Tuesdays, employees will be essentially running the food pantry. This includes cleaning the pantry, greeting visitors, registering and checking out visitors, and restocking during our closing hours. Sometimes, we also go around campus talking to students about the Thrive Center’s services, which include much more than the food pantry,” Alderete said.

While not everyone takes advantage of or knows the existence of the Thrive Center’s services besides their pantry, a lot of MCHS students take advantage of the free food provided.

Freshman Landon Cullen elaborates on his favorite groceries he wishes to hopefully get added to the Thrive Center and how long he believes he would last with the groceries given to him living with a family of three.

“I would like the Thrive Center to try and add eggs, milk, and lettuce because they are always the groceries that aren’t there yet they are the essentials… I would say a good grocery day allows my family to be fed for two days,” Cullen said.

Only people with SAC IDs are allowed to take advantage of these services, and taking advantage of these services could save you thousands of dollars over the span of your four years at MCHS.

Most students take all of these life-changing resources for granted, while millions could be wishing for food and housing elsewhere. Even if you don’t need these free resources, at least take a moment to honor the generosity of the volunteers, employers, and founders of the Thrive Center.