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New Food Pantry Program To Fill Need, Stomachs

Sept. 30, 2014
SHSU Media Contact: Romney Thomas

 

Running low on food before payday? Students will be able to pick up something to eat twice a month starting Oct. 9, through the Food Pantry program, which will be stationed at the Canterbury House, at 1614 University Ave., home of the Episcopal Student Center. —Photo by Romney Thomas

Sam Houston State University’s appetite for serving others is proving voracious this fall as volunteers prepare for the opening a new Food Pantry for SHSU students.

The SHSU Food Pantry’s first distribution date is scheduled for Thursday (Oct. 9), and there will be an opening event on Thursday (Oct. 16) from 6-8 p.m., where members of the Bearkat family can have food and drinks and learn more about the Food Pantry and its volunteer opportunities.

Students who, through the experiences of their peers, felt that the issue of food insecurity on campus needed to be addressed, brought the idea of the Food Pantry to faculty and staff.

Amber Spell, an SHSU senior and member of the Food Pantry advisory board became aware of food insecurity during her freshman year at SHSU after reading an article about the rising number of food pantries in our nation’s colleges.

“I spoke with (former SAM Center director for academic support programs) Dr. Bernice Strauss, who has since retired, and she told me that students had confided in her about not having enough to eat,” Spell said. “These students were eating at their friends houses, or not eating at all. I just really wanted to reach out to students at Sam who experience this problem.”

Although there is limited empirical evidence of food insecurity on campus, according to Food Pantry planning committee member Candice Hanner, there is no doubt that a service like the Food Pantry will be a much-appreciated resource.

“The academic lives of our students do not exist inside a vacuum,” Hanner said. “This is a really great way to begin thinking about the whole student.”

The Food Pantry will distribute food twice a month at the Canterbury House, located at 1614 University Ave.

“Distribution days will be on the second Thursday and the fourth Monday of every month,” said Hanner. “We’ve tried to plan these days so students will pick up food shortly before they get paid, when money tends to be the most scarce.”

Any student who experiences food insecurity is eligible to sign up for access to the Food Pantry.

“We decided early on not to make any sort of criteria by which we would determine need,” Hanner said. “Just because a student isn’t on financial aid doesn’t mean that they will be able to pay for all of their academic and non-academic needs.

“It was already difficult enough for us to determine the percentage of the student population who would need this service; we aren’t interested in trying to determine who does and does not qualify,” she said.

The program is designed to encourage anyone who may experience food insecurity at any time to sign up for the service.

To participate, students will log on to his/her MySam account and click on the “Students” tab, where a link will be available for students to sign up to receive items at the next distribution date.

“That link will close at a certain point so we will have time to package all of what is available to give to students,” Hanner said. “When a student who has signed up to receive food comes to pick it up on the distribution date, all we will need to confirm the pick up is their Sam ID. We will also have extra packages available for students in need of food who may not have been able to sign up prior to the distribution date.”

The MySam system will help students who sign up to maintain a certain amount of anonymity, according to Hanner.

“We want students to feel safe and comfortable when they submit that request for food,” she said. “We do have to collect some information from students, but this will not be used in a way that can be traced back to any individual.”

Hanner said the process of opening the pantry—including finding a space to house supplies, students to participate in its organization, and getting information out to students on campus—were all necessary roadblocks to overcome in order to get to this point.

“When we first started, a lot of people on the committee were faculty,” Hanner said. “We’ve never really felt that was the way to run this organization.”

In order to get more students involved with the program, the Food Pantry has teamed up with Judy Dohrman, in the Financial Aid Office, who is on the board of directors.

“We’ve decided it would be really great if departments would allow their students on work study to work for the Food Pantry as part of getting their work study hours,” said Hanner.

Duties for volunteers include picking up food donations from around campus, sorting canned goods by expiration dates and food categories, and packaging items for distribution.

“Volunteers will be supervised by an executive board member to create a structured environment and the students will gain valuable experience,” Hanner said. “Overall, it will help create a community service-type of atmosphere.”

The response from both employees and students has been positive, something Hanner attributes to the commitment to SHSU’s motto, “The measure of a Life is its Service.”

“Fortunately, having people to donate their food and time comes really easily for us,” Hanner said. “A survey that we conducted around campus yielded interesting results. About a third of the responses included students who said that they could use a service like this, but about another third of the students who responded said that although they wouldn’t utilize this service, they were glad that they had heard about it and wished to support the Food Pantry.”

Donations can be dropped off at several locations around campus, including the Student Health and Counseling Center; Teacher Education Center Room 306; the Financial Aid Office, in Estill Building Room 201; the First-Year Experience Office, in Academic Building IV Room 202; the math department, in Lee Drain Building Room 420; and the Residence Life Office.

Students who are interested in volunteering with the Food Pantry are also encouraged to contact Hanner at any time.

“Through the Food Pantry, we’re building a culture on campus where we’re aware of the experiences of others,” she said. “With this effort, we can have better and more informed conversations about how to support everybody as a community. I hope that as we think about this, that this is what will shine about our Food Pantry program.”

For more information about the Food Pantry or volunteer opportunities, contact Hanner at 936.294.2231.

 

 

 

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