As international students struggle to make ends meet, a church offers up free meal
A church beside the University of Windsor is doing its part to make sure students don't go hungry.
One Sunday a month, University Community Church offers a home-cooked lunch to those in need. Many are international students.
Rev. Shalini Sankarlal is the pastor at the church. She said attendance has ranged between about 90 and 185, and there were just over 150 students on Sunday.
"By 12 p.m. we had a line of students outside waiting for us we prepared the space for them," she said on CBC Radio's Windsor Morning on Monday.
LISTEN: Rev. Shalini Sankarlal joins Windsor Morning
Students have said they appreciate the meal because it helps with their budgets, Sankarlal said. Some students she has spoken with are having difficulty finding work in Windsor.
CBC Windsor has heard similar concerns from international students who are struggling to get by in the city.
Last week, CBC News reported on how international students make up the majority of users of the University of Windsor's food pantry.
One food pantry user, UWindsor master's student Khushi Chunch, said she lives on about $630 a month.
"Overall, it's a good place. The people are good. And it's a nice community, small and nice community over here," Chunch said of her time in Windsor.
"The most disappointing thing is, since we have come during the harsh winters, there is a scarcity of jobs. So it is quite overwhelming and quite an emotional thing. Because we are having a hard time keeping up with the expenses and all."
At the church, Sankarlal said the monthly event arose of out demand. The church had a small food bank set up, but the items would go "within minutes."
"We realized we need to do something else," she said. "Also we realized that they come to this country, they're so young, some of them... they know nobody, sometimes meet each other on WhatsApp is what I've been told, and they try to form little communities of their own."
In addition to providing a meal, she said, they want to be space where the students could make connections.
She said the church is only a small congregation and they are looking for volunteers to help run the meal.
She says that food security is not the only issue international students face when they arrive in Windsor, and she believes the community has a responsibility to provide better supports for them around issues such as housing and transportation.
"It's one thing to woo them... it's another thing to ensure that we are able to support them."
