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GW Swipes Out Hunger

Student food insecurity is a nationwide issue. A survey of Pell Grant recipients at public colleges and universities in Wisconsin, conducted by the Wisconsin Hope Lab from 2008 to 2014, found that 71 percent of such students had changed their food shopping or eating habits due to a lack of funds. Twenty-seven percent said they had found themselves without enough money to buy food, ate less than they felt they should or cut meals because of financial need. More recently, 35 percent of college students said hunger has impacted their ability to study during the pandemic, according to Swipe Out Hunger, a national nonprofit organization committed to ending college student hunger.

Campaign 2023: How Our Community Can Help Address Food Insecurity

GW has teamed up with Swipe Out Hunger, a national nonprofit organization committed to ending college student hunger, to provide the GW community a way to support GW students who may be experiencing food insecurity. As inflation continues to rise this spring, the Swipe Out Hunger donation campaign offers a convenient way for GW community members and especially students who will have unused money on their GWorld cards to help fellow GW students.

From May 12 - 31, 2023, GW community members can donate their unused GWorld funds to support The Store: GW’s Food Pantry and the Abrahms Family Fund, an GW institutional grant that provides emergency GWorld dining funds for students in need. 

As the spring 2023 semester concludes, if you have unspent Dining Dollars, Colonial Cash or block meal plans remaining on your GWorld card, please consider giving that unused money back to our own community and help us ‘swipe out hunger.’ 

A few considerations to keep in mind:

  • Both Dining Dollars and Colonial Cash roll over from semester to semester and year to year as long as a student continues to be enrolled. Remaining card balances are not refunded at the end of each semester. Nor can a balance be used as payment on your tuition bill.
  • Recent graduates can purchase an Alumni Card in the GWorld Office and transfer any unused Dining Dollars and/or Colonial Cash balances to their new Alumni Card. Funds in an alumni GWorld account do not expire unless the account remains inactive (no deposits or charges) for a 36 consecutive month period. 
  • Graduating students and students departing the university through a transfer or other means, generally have access to GWorld funds through the summer and lose access to these funds on September 1, if not transferred to an alumni account or donated.   
  • Colonial Cash loaded onto a GWorld account by GW faculty or staff employees does not expire and remains active as long as the individual remains employed. Refunds are not available if an employee separates from the university.  
  • For additional ways to spend down your GWorld account balance visit the GWorld accounts web page.  

How to Donate 

There are two ways to donate based on whether you are using Dining Dollars/Colonial Cash or one or more of your remaining swipes on your block meal plan. 

1. If using Dining Dollars or Colonial Cash to Donate 

To donate you must first have an active GWorld card balance of either Dining Dollars or Colonial Cash. 

Donations can only be made through the GET Mobile app on Apple or Android. Please note, at this time there are no other methods to transfer/donate Dining Dollars or Colonial Cash to the Swipe Out Hunger Campaign.  

Once GET Mobile is downloaded on your mobile device: 

Select George Washington University as your institution, enter your username (ie: your GW email), create a password and a custom 4-digit pin that will be used within the app.

  • Open the App.
  • Click on the Accounts button on the bottom of the screen.
  • Click on the Meal Donations button on the top of the next screen. 
  • Next choose the account (ie: Dining Dollars or Colonial Cash ) and amount to donate. 

2.  If you have remaining meals as part of your Block Meal Plan** to Donate

Fill out the Donating Unused Blocks webform. 

If you have difficulty with the web form, please email [email protected]. Include your GW UserID, full name and which block meal plan you are participating in for spring 2023. Also note how many block meal swipes you would like to donate from the amount you have remaining. A member of the GW Dining Team will respond to you within two-three business days to confirm your donation amount. 

**Students on the unlimited dining meal plan are not able to donate unused meal swipes.  

Timeline 

GWorld is accepting donations to GW’s Swipe Out Hunger campaign from May 12 - May 31, 2023. Donations are voluntary and are not tax deductible. All donations will be split equally between The Store and the Abrahms Family Fund. In 2022, GW donated more than $7,200 to help GW students who needed a little extra help. Our goal this spring is to raise $10,000.


If you have any questions about GW’s Swipe Out Hunger Campaign, email [email protected].