Paige Bueckers, Chegg partner to battle food insecurity
Connecticut guard Paige Bueckers (5) drives to the lane against NC State during the first quarter of the East Regional final college basketball game of the NCAA women's tournament, Monday, March 28, 2022, in Bridgeport, Conn. (AP Photo/Frank Franklin II)
Former Hopkins High School and current University of Connecticut basketball star Paige Bueckers is back in Minnesota and working to battle food insecurity.
Bueckers is leading her team into the NCAA women’s Final Four this weekend in Minneapolis, but she’s also helping the community.
Chegg announced Bueckers as its first student-athlete brand ambassador on Thursday and, as part of their partnership with Goodr, will launch a pop-up grocery market in Minneapolis this weekend.
From 11 a.m. to 2 p.m. Saturday, families will be able to drive up to Sabathani Community Center to receive free meals. Pre-registration online is encouraged. The free, pop-up grocery market will provide 6,000 meals, and plans for permanent free Goodr grocery stores on school and college campuses are underway.
“As a college sophomore balancing so many things, I’ve always appreciated Chegg’s commitment to meeting students where they are and supporting them in a meaningful way,” Bueckers said in a statement. “I’m thrilled to become Chegg’s first student athlete brand ambassador and for this opportunity to help in the fight against food insecurity which affects too many of my peers and 12 million kids in the U.S. While this is the first of several projects in schools with Goodr, it was really important to use the momentum we have around the tournament to raise awareness on the issue and support my hometown of Minneapolis during such an important weekend for our game.”
Bueckers and Chegg are also working to raise awareness of student hunger. Chegg says 32% of U.S. college students surveyed have reported suffering from food insecurity since the pandemic started. More than 38 million Americans and 12 million children are food insecure, the U.S. Department of Agriculture says.
Before starring at UConn, Bueckers led Hopkins to an undefeated season her senior season and won several national awards, including the 2019-20 Gatorade Female Athlete of the Year. She’s continued to dominate in college and will lead UConn against Stanford in the Final Four on Friday night. The championship game will be played Sunday, also at Target Center.