Georgetown University's fall semester meal-swipe drive managed to double the number of student donations it received last spring from 538 to 1,092.

As reported by Georgetown's student publication, The Hoya, the meal swipe drive held on September 26 was the second such event for the university. This time around, the program enabled donation recipients to access swipes directly from their GOCards -- Georgetown's student ID card -- in an effort to both increase participation in the program and make the process more discreet for those individuals in need.

The Meal Swipe Drive is put on by the university's Interhall Council and the Georgetown chapter of the Swipe Out Hunger organization. Students have the option to donate their personal meal swipes at all Hoya Hospitality locations, including dining halls and campus dining locations, as well as at Chick-fil-A, Starbucks, and Einstein Bros. Bagels locations on campus.

Meal swipe donations are accepted from both weekly allotments for those on a weekly meal plan, or swipes from the block meal plan. For this latest event, students were permitted to donate a maximum of two meal swipes each, including those on unlimited meal plans.

In its first effort last spring, the meal swipe drive required students to use paper vouchers to redeem donated meal swipes. This semester, students applying for assistance will see the meal swipes directly loaded onto their GOCards to better ensure the process is discreet.

Students will be able to apply for donated meal swipes on a first come, first served basis. The application will include questions regarding the student's food insecurity and current meal plan. Donated swipes will be redeemable at the buffet-style Fresh Food Company in Georgetown's Leo O’Donovan Dining Hall.

Students can request blocks of five meal swipes using iPads located in the Hoya Hub -- Georgetown University's food pantry -- with plans to add more tablets in the university's Health Education Services and Georgetown Scholars Program offices.