Amy pocrnich leads effort to make meals for students on campus over Thanksgiving break

On the Wednesday before Thanksgiving, students who weren’t going home for break lined up in Storm’s Den to receive free, home cooked meals to get them through the days when the dining hall is closed. 

This effort was led by Amy Pocrnich, the program director for accounting, finance, and economics. “When I got hired full time here, I noticed that as we were coming up on Thanksgiving week, some people were not going home for their own reasons or they were international students that obviously aren’t going to go home for three or four days. So I started bringing a handful of meals to my classes to students that said they were going to be [staying on campus],” said Pocrnich.

Last year, with 114 international students enrolled in the spring of 2025 compared to 33 in 2021, Pocrnich worried about what life on campus during breaks with no access to the dining hall would be like and saw a way that she could help. Last year, Pocrnich, her husband, and her 16 and 17-year-old sons prepared 60 meals that were all claimed within an hour. 

“While I was planning it I did reach out to [the] faculty assembly, I’m the vice chair there, and  I said, you know some of you reached out last year and wanted to get involved. I’ll send out a survey. There’s items you can bring or you can just contribute cash if you're unable to cook or anything,” she said. 

30 people responded to the survey, allowing this effort to grow from 60 meals to many more. The hope was to give out three meals to each student, along with some oatmeal packets for breakfasts and supplies for students to make and take a sandwich with them. 

 Although there’s more support, Pocrnich is still doing the majority of the cooking, along with help from her family and Jessica Bortulus, assistant director of TRIO at the college. 

Pocrnich and her family are experienced at cooking in large quantities, frequently cooking for their son’s hockey team and ski team, and also preparing food for the Animal Allies employee celebration. 

“I think it’s just part of wanting to give back. We know that these students are going to be without meals and I have an opportunity here to fill that void for them,” said Pocrnich. 

She reminds everyone that acts of generosity can look many different ways. 

“You don’t have to do anything huge and impactful to make a difference while you’re here. It can be something small. You know, sit down and have coffee with somebody who is maybe more quiet in your class. You could go to the Benedictine [Living Community] and visit with somebody that’s not going to have anybody over for the holidays.”

For Pocrnich, giving of her time and resources to meet a need in her community is just a part of everyday life. 

“There’s just little things you can do and at the same time that you do that, you start to feel that you’re making a difference and there’s just something about making a difference that helps you sleep a little better at night,” said Pocrnich.