With an enrollment number of over 400, Diablo Valley College’s population of veterans are ecstatic that the new Associated Students of DVC food pantry opening this semester will finally provide assistance to those on campus who are in desperate need of help when it comes to receiving food.

When asked what this display of student provision means to veterans specifically, Roman Taylor, the president of DVC’s Veterans’ Alliance Association, discussed how meaningful this addition to the campus is to DVC’s past and current service men and women.

“This does more than just brighten a day, it makes me feel wanted,” said Taylor.

After sitting down with Taylor, and his fellow serviceman, Ryan Woodrum, the Director of Public Relations for the Veterans Resource Center, both men described that as great as this pantry is for veterans, it would be nice if it was advertised more.

Taylor suggested that DVC uses resources such as mass emails, similar to how the school alerts veterans when they qualify for financial aid, to inform those who are interested in the pantry that it even exists in the first place.

Woodrum piggy-backed off of Taylor’s statement by explaining that despite the huge population of veterans at DVC, many are uncomfortable with coming to campus or physically can not make it out to DVC other than when they absolutely need to for their classes.

“So many veterans isolate themselves, or work as well as going to school in order to provide for their family,” said Woodrum.

Both of the men described this pantry as an “invaluable asset” and hope to see this grow past DVC.

“Let’s see this on a national level,” said Woodrum.

After officially voting to bring a food pantry to DVC last semester, ASDVC is currently at the tail end of the pantry’s logistical phase and hopes to open it as soon as possible.

“We’re just working to make sure everything is up to our expectations before we decide to open it up to the student body,” said ASDVC President Kevin Zhang about the importance of making this pantry beneficial for the students.