Food access is close to home at 71 North. This spring, Random Hacks of Kindness teams spent their hackathon in the studio tackling food insecurity at NIU alongside Huskie Harvest, Edible Campus and Dean of Students Kelly Olson. Here’s how the wider No Huskie Goes Hungry effort is growing, with support from Joe and Giselle Intrakamhang and the Northern Illinois Food Bank.

Student success depends on more than what happens in the classroom. At NIU, that means ensuring students have the resources they need to stay healthy, focused and on track toward graduation.

As communities across the country recognized Hunger Action Day on September 29, No Huskie Goes Hungry, an initiative designed to help NIU students maintain reliable access to nutritious food, demonstrated how the university is helping remove barriers that can stand in the way of student success.

Bringing together the Huskie Food Pantry, Huskie Harvest, Edible Campus gardens, and community partnerships, No Huskie Goes Hungry reflects NIU’s commitment to supporting students holistically. These programs create an interconnected system that expands access to food across campus, recovers surplus food that might otherwise go to waste and provides students with convenient, stigma-free ways to access support.

The initiative aligns closely with the Huskie Promise, recognizing that students are most likely to persist, graduate, and achieve their potential when their essential needs are met alongside their academic journey.

The effort is strengthened by support from alumni, volunteers, campus programs and community partners, including Joe Intrakamhang, ‘02, and Giselle Intrakamhang, ‘04, whose recent gift will help expand resources available through the Huskie Food Pantry.

“We feel honored and humbled that we were able to give back,” Joe said.

For Joe and Giselle, supporting student access to nutritious food reflects both their connection to NIU and their belief that students should have the resources they need to succeed.

Joe is chief technology officer of SWARM Engineering, an NIU Foundation Board member, and a member of the Northern Illinois Food Bank Board of Directors. He has long championed efforts to advance food sustainability and expand access to food resources, and he believes many people underestimate how many college students face food security challenges.

“They [people] believe that it’s a rite of passage to live on ramen or whatever it may be…but some people just don’t have any nutritious food,” he said.

Although national statistics on hunger among college students vary, estimates suggest that one out of three college students faces inconsistent access to food.

To explain the importance of this statistic, Joe compares it to keeping a device powered.

“You have this great laptop, this powerful laptop, and you need to do a lot of things, but you are at one percent of power, and you’re not going to get everything done [until you power up],” he said. “That’s a lot like food. You need to be able to recharge…so that you can perform well. Without food, nutritious food, you’re not going to be at your best.”

During a recent campus visit, Joe toured the Huskie Food Pantry alongside NIU Foundation President and CEO Michael Daigler and Northern Illinois Food Bank President and CEO Julie Yurko, ‘90, a fellow Huskie alumna, highlighting the importance of partnerships in elevating student support. Afterward, he walked through the Edible Campus garden that provides fresh produce to the Pantry.

Joe Intrakamhang, ‘02, (L) and Northern Illinois Food Bank President and CEO Julie Yurko, ‘90, pose at one of NIU’s Edible Campus gardens. (Photo: NIU Foundation)

“We are creating a blueprint for other universities,” Joe said, referring to replicating programs like No Huskie Goes Hungry nationwide.

Yurko sees the NIU-Northern Illinois Food Bank partnership as a model for other institutions. The partnership maximizes resources, allowing every donated dollar to buy about seven dollars’ worth of food.

“Other institutions can learn from the work that the Food Bank and the university are doing together by being innovative,” Yurko said. “We want every student to have a full belly so that they can complete their degree, be ready for the workforce and thrive.”

Kelly Olson, NIU Assistant Vice President for Student Development, Dean of Students, wants every student to know these resources are available to support them throughout their time at NIU.

“It’s important that students know we care,” Olson said. “Part of supporting students is supporting them holistically…food assistance is one part of that.”

As colleges nationwide seek ways to help students persist and thrive, NIU is demonstrating how innovation, collaboration and philanthropy can help ensure every student has the support they need to succeed.

NIU celebrates the alumni, donors, volunteers, campus partners and community members who help make that support possible.

“Programs like No Huskie Goes Hungry work because people step forward to get involved,” Daigler said. “Our students benefit from a community that is invested not only in their education, but in their well-being.”

For Yurko, that spirit of service is at the heart of the partnership.

“Good things happen because good people get involved,” she said.

To learn more about No Huskie Goes Hungry and how you can make a difference for NIU students, visit the NIU Food Assistance website.

Originally published by NIU Today. Top photo, (L-R): NIU Foundation President and CEO Michael Daigler; NIU Assistant Vice President for Student Development, Dean of Students Kelly Olson; Joe Intrakamhang, ‘02; Northern Illinois Food Bank President and CEO Julie Yurko, ‘90. (Photo: NIU Foundation)