More than 2,000 students received refunds throughout the pandemic for remaining dining cash from last year’s spring semester.

Karen Zinn, the associate vice president of business services, said officials doled out more than $1.5 million in dining refunds to students with leftover GWorld balances after students were sent home from campus last March up until the deadline for refund requests passed earlier this month. Recent graduates and seniors received full refunds from the amount remaining in their balances, while sophomores and juniors received “prorated” refunds totaling more than $650 for students living with an in-unit kitchen and more than $1,000 for students living without an in-unit kitchen, according to an email sent to students last month.

“Since the onset of the pandemic, GW Dining and GWorld partnered to ensure students with remaining dining plan balances had opportunities to meet their dining and financial needs,” Zinn said in an email.

Zinn said officials processed refunds within two weeks of a request and deposited cash back to each recipient’s student account. She said sophomores and juniors will have the opportunity to spend the rest of their dining balance when they return to campus in the fall, and officials encourage students to use dining cash for delivery services through GW’s partnership with Grubhub.

Zinn said about 150 students helped raise $3,000 for The Store and the Abraham Family Fund – an emergency fund offering students Colonial Cash – through the Swipe Out Hunger program, which allows students to donate their GWorld funds to students facing food insecurity.

“We want to thank all of the students who answered the call to support students experiencing food insecurity by donating some of their balances through the Swipe Out Hunger program,” she said.