Congress has cut federal funding for public media — a $3.4 million loss for LAist. We count on readers like you to protect our nonprofit newsroom. Become a monthly member and sustain local journalism.
In College, He Couldn't Afford A Sandwich. Now He Helps Other Students In Need Get A Good Meal
Volunteers at Los Angeles Valley College give out food provided by Student LunchBox.
(
Cassandra Nava
/
LAist
)
Karlen Nurijanyan could barely afford a grilled cheese while he attended Santa Monica College in 2010. Fourteen years ago, there was little support for food-insecure students and a larger stigma for those seeking out basic needs.
Listen
• 0:38
In College, He Couldn't Afford A Sandwich. Now He Helps Other Students In Need Get A Good Meal
In the years since, he has started a nonprofit, Student LunchBox, that delivers fresh produce, canned goods, grains, dairy, meat, and poultry across 10 Southern California community colleges and university pantries, helping students in need get easier access to food.
A 2023 fall survey by the Community College League of California found that nearly half of California community college students are food insecure. Rates have improved by about 3% since 2019 — because of pantries and basic needs offerings.
Support for LAist comes from
Alone on minimum wage
Two years after emigrating from Armenia with his family in 2008, Nurijanyan enrolled at SMC. He lived alone, without a vehicle and surviving on minimum wage. While financial aid covered some expenses, he found himself constantly looking for his next meal.
“I was only making $11 an hour,” said Nurijanyan of his time in Santa Monica. “The situation got so severe that I would sleep in the middle of my classes so I wouldn't feel the hunger.”
Nurijanyan later found student aid at the university level, citing UCLA’s Co-Op as a monumental step in reaching his basic needs. He graduated from UCLA, got a master’s degree at California State University, Long Beach, and eventually landed a job in human resources. But during the pandemic, he left that career to work at a Trader Joe’s in Westwood.
He saw glimpses of his past: hungry college students looking for their next meal in an uncertain time.
Creating the change
Nurijanyan embarked on his dream and worked to create a nonprofit organization he wished he could have used at his time in community college. He opened Student LunchBox (SLB) in 2019.
Support for LAist comes from
Student LunchBox creator Karlen Nurijanyan.
(
Courtesy of Karlen Nurijanyan
)
Armed with a tent, a couple tables, crates of food, student volunteers, and a good playlist, the nonprofit holds pop-up food distributions at campuses. It also works to destigmatize food and financial insecurity by bringing the distribution process out in the open.
Today, SLB serves around 4,500 students per month across 10 Southern California campuses. And Nurijanyan’s statistics reveal that the need is prevalent; SLB recorded a 58% increase from 2022, with more than 118,000 total visits in 2023.
One of those campuses is Los Angeles Valley College in the San Fernando Valley. Every Thursday, the college has a “Monarch Market” where food is available to not just students, but community members. Tables are set up across the wall of the Campus Center building, with fruits and vegetables piled high in plastic crates. Along with the produce, there are two coolers filled with meat, dairy, and chicken, and three racks off to the side stuffed with canned goods, oil, and grains.
The line forms almost an hour before the 11:30 a.m. scheduled start time, with people getting their reusable market totes ready.
Interested in helping?
-
In addition to accepting donations, Student LunchBox also accepts volunteers to help distribute food on college campuses every month.
“I look like I’m over here trick or treating,” said LAVC business major and father of five Christian Guevara as he waited in line with his empty bag. “I mean, it’s a good day today to start out with this positive vibe.”
Support for LAist comes from
History major Malik Ervin has been attending the pop-ups since last summer. He said it’s like ‘free groceries every Thursday.’
Sustainability impact
Nurijanyan had no donors in SLB’s early days. He sourced all the food himself, going to the grocery stores and seeing mass amounts of food waste. That is where SLB’s mission statement sprouted: Rescue the “imperfect” food and donate to college students in need.
Food Forward Inc. and the Food Bank of Southern California both provide the organization with produce that would be otherwise wasted from backyard trees, public orchards, farmers markets, and grocery outlets.
While Nurijanyan cannot provide ready-to-eat grilled cheeses to students in need, he can provide the ingredients to make it themselves— for free.
As Editor-in-Chief of our newsroom, I’m extremely proud of the work our top-notch journalists are doing here at LAist. We’re doing more hard-hitting watchdog journalism than ever before — powerful reporting on the economy, elections, climate and the homelessness crisis that is making a difference in your lives. At the same time, it’s never been more difficult to maintain a paywall-free, independent news source that informs, inspires, and engages everyone.
Simply put, we cannot do this essential work without your help. Federal funding for public media has been clawed back by Congress and that means LAist has lost $3.4 million in federal funding over the next two years. So we’re asking for your help. LAist has been there for you and we’re asking you to be here for us.
We rely on donations from readers like you to stay independent, which keeps our nonprofit newsroom strong and accountable to you.
No matter where you stand on the political spectrum, press freedom is at the core of keeping our nation free and fair. And as the landscape of free press changes, LAist will remain a voice you know and trust, but the amount of reader support we receive will help determine how strong of a newsroom we are going forward to cover the important news from our community.
Please take action today to support your trusted source for local news with a donation that makes sense for your budget.
Thank you for your generous support and believing in independent news.
Chip in now to fund your local journalism
(
LAist
)
Trending on LAist
-
The U.S. Supreme Court lifted limits on immigration sweeps in Southern California, overturning a lower court ruling that prohibited agents from stopping people based on their appearance. -
Censorship has long been controversial. But lately, the issue of who does and doesn’t have the right to restrict kids’ access to books has been heating up across the country in the so-called culture wars.
-
With less to prove than LA, the city is becoming a center of impressive culinary creativity.
-
Nearly 470 sections of guardrailing were stolen in the last fiscal year in L.A. and Ventura counties.
-
Monarch butterflies are on a path to extinction, but there is a way to support them — and maybe see them in your own yard — by planting milkweed.
-
With California voters facing a decision on redistricting this November, Surf City is poised to join the brewing battle over Congressional voting districts.
Best of LAist