BATON ROUGE - Got milk? Thanks to a collaborative effort between Rouses Markets and Dairy MAX, several coolers have been added to university food pantries around the state.

It is estimated that 40% of college students are food insecure which is why these coolers will provide those struggling with access to fresh dairy products.

Wednesday the staff at Southern University celebrated their new fridge from Dairy MAX and two years worth of supply thanks to Rouses Markets.

The donation of the cooler and dairy marks the second university pantry supported by Rouses Markets and Dairy MAX. The previous donation was directed to Nicholls State University in Thibodaux. A third donation is scheduled for Thursday, extending support to SOWELA Technical College in Lake Charles.

“With the Dairy MAX sponsorship and with Southern, we actually donated a year's supply of dairy to their food pantry. So it's a really great event for us to get out here and really, you know, impact the community,” Kyle Zito, the Rouses Regional Director of Operations said.

“About 42% of all college students are food insecure at some point during their college education. So for us, it's super important to make sure that they have access to the high nutrition value that dairy brings,” Michelle Van Pelt, Dairy Max’s Business Development Manager said.

“We have a food pantry here on campus to help combat hunger disparities here at the university. It was originally created in 2019 when we first opened and now we are elevating to the next level where we can offer additional products to help fight the disparities. And it’s completely free, all they need is their student I.D.,” Cedric Noel, Director of the Smith-Brown Memorial Student Union said.