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23.04.2020

Food assistance for students

Update 14.5.2020: All vouchers have been donated to students. 

This article was originally published on UEF Kamu on 22.4.2020.

Higher education institutions operating in Joensuu and Kuopio have acknowledged that the coronavirus epidemic is placing some students in need of special assistance. The educational institutions have now joined forces, making donations to support their students. These donations are used to purchase food vouchers that will be distributed to students by parishes’ diaconal workers.

Students of the University of Eastern Finland, Karelia University of Applied Sciences and Savonia University of Applied Sciences who are in financial distress due to the coronavirus epidemic now have access to food assistance in Joensuu and Kuopio. Funds donated by the educational institutions are used to purchase food vouchers, allowing students in urgent need to buy food from grocery stores.

The University of Eastern Finland, Karelia University of Applied Sciences, Savonia University of Applied Sciences, the Student Union of the University of Eastern Finland and the student associations Poka and Savotta are donating a total of 140 food vouchers to students in urgent need of assistance. The food vouchers will be purchased and distributed via student chaplaincy and diaconal work carried out by the Evangelical Lutheran parishes of Joensuu and Kuopio.

The vouchers will become available via the customer service points of diaconal work in the city centre of Joensuu and Kuopio, and diaconal workers will distribute the food vouchers to students contacting them. Students will need to show proof of identity, and to prove that they are students of the university or the university of applied sciences, upon collecting their voucher.

Students in need of food assistance should contact the diaconal worker of their neighbourhood by telephone or email to agree upon the details on when and where to pick up their voucher. You can find the contact information of the diaconal worker of your neighbourhood here: http://yhteishenki.fi/opiskelijan-ruoka-apu/

For further information on the arrangements relating to food assistance, please contact the parishes’ student chaplains.

More information: 

Markku Fräntilä, Student Chaplain, Ev. Lut. parishes of Joensuu, +358 50 3830336, markku.frantila@evl.fi

Raimo Hakkarainen, Chief Student Chaplain, University Chaplain, Ev. Lut. parishes of Kuopio, +358 40 4848471, raimo.hakkarainen@uef.fi