The 48th SGA Student Senate provided transportation for 80 students to get groceries from Walmart located on Apalachee Parkway.
Photo submission by Rochard Moricette.
On Saturday, Feb. 2 the 48th Student Senate provided transportation for 80 students to get groceries from Walmart on Apalachee Parkway. The student senate is the legislative branch of the Student Government Association at Florida A&M University.
Rochard Moricette, 48th Senate president and agribusiness major, said this event is one of the first of SGA led grocery trips to take place this semester.
“We want to make this event a monthly initiative or maybe even bi-weekly,” Moricette said. “We are still working out the logistics. But this is definitely not the last time that we will be doing this.”
There were over 100 students that signed up for the trip but due to only having two shuttles and only being able to make four trips, there wasn’t a way to transport every student who signed up.
Moricette mentioned this was not the first time SGA led grocery trip, however, it was the first one in a long time. The grocery trip was provided to students to help alleviate the amount of students affected by lack of transportation.
This service was available for all students living on and off campus. Students were given a week to register and shuttles picked students up from “The Set” and the FAMU Village dorms.
Many students that live on campus do not have transportation and have to depend on Uber to go grocery shopping. For freshman political science major Ali Cudio, the grocery trip saved her time and money.
“A typical Uber to Walmart from campus is quite expensive, the cheapest I have paid was $13 one-way,” Cudio said. “The shuttles helped me save at least $26 and as a student who does not have a job, the extra $26 in my bank account was very nice.”
The students were given a bag limit so that there was enough space for everyone, which eliminated bulky items for students list such as a case of water. They had one hour and thirty minutes in the store to purchase what they needed.
Some students were able to network with new classmates and bond. Freshman pre-nursing major Tamara Rucker believes this should be a bi-weekly event to help save students money over time.
“It helped students far as spending money on Ubers and I was able to meet people I have never seen before,” Rucker said. “Overall, it was a good idea.”
Many of the students thought this was a great idea because freshman are not allowed to have their cars on campus, and the shuttle was a cheaper alternative than Uber. The shuttles were covered by SGA with the Activity & Service fees that are included in tuition.
This initiative that SGA has picked back up, overall, received good feedback from students who participated. Freshman biological systems engineering major Joshua Clements was appreciative of the grocery trip.
“I believe SGA is making a step in the right direction by incorporating this event and our senate president is doing a great job by looking out for the student body,” Clements said.
The senate plans to continue servicing the students here at FAMU with other events to make sure students have what they need to succeed. The SGA hopes to proceed with more grocery trips to alleviate with both cost and time, in the future.