On-campus food pantry waiting to feed students
There is good news for hungry college students at USU – they no longer have to live off of ramen noodles.
Jordan Hunt, a sophomore in English literature studies, is the director of the Student Nutrition Access Center (SNAC), an on-campus food pantry.
Hunt said the process is easy. He said students simply need to visit the pantry on a Monday or Thursday between 3 p.m. and 6 p.m. Students need only bring their ID, and they will be given the food that they need.
“We don’t have any other requirements than student ID,” Hunt said.
Hunt said he started working with the Service Center when he first arrived on campus last fall. He said he had donated to the pantry at his previous school, Southern Utah University, and noticed that Utah State University didn’t have one.
“Housing got involved, and gave us an office in the trailer park,” Hunt said.
Hunt said SNAC first began operation in February, and they have since relocated to TSC 329.
“We want people to know where we are … we’re kind of tucked away in a corner,” Hunt said. “Our initial inventory came from the Cache County Pantry, but since then we donated four times the amount back to them.”
The food comes to the pantry through donations, mainly from student organizations.
“Huge contributors are the fashion show, housing has donated. Just different clubs on campus that wanted to do a canned food drive,” Hunt said.
He said students who may need the pantry’s services shouldn’t be concerned about confidentiality. According to a SNAC handout, no information about income is gathered in order to determine who receives food. The only stipulation they have is that students with children are referred to the Cache Community Food Pantry, which offers a wider variety of services, he said.
Hunt said he is gathering information about the other social services on campus and in the valley that students coming to the pantry might find useful.
“People who need food need it for a secondary reason. Usually people need help in other areas,” he said.
The handout also give students instruction for donating food, which can be dropped off during regular office hours. If the donation needs to be picked up by SNAC, then a week’s notice is needed.
Hunt said during September, SNAC activities constituted almost 200 hours of service. Volunteers are trained in both confidentiality and active listening. Hunt said they couldn’t measure the value of the food.
“We are feeding people, which is invaluable,” he said.
Lisa Vaughn is the adviser for SNAC, as well as the Community Service Coordinator. She said before starting up the pantry, people around campus were asked whether such a service was needed.
“As long as they keep saying yes, we’ll keep offering the service, until it is no longer needed, and then I guess we’ve accomplished our mission,” she said.
Vaughn said she wanted students to be able to put their education first. She said she didn’t want anyone to have to give up their education because the couldn’t afford to eat.
“My favorite part about working with SNAC is seeing the enthusiasm of the students,” Vaughn said.
Any students wishing to volunteer should contact SNAC via email at snac@aggiemail.usu.edu.
– melody.campbell@aggiemail.usu.edu