Methodist College Opens Food Pantry to Support Students
February 13, 2017
Methodist College has announced the opening of a food pantry that will help and support its student population. Named “Ollie’s Pantry” after the college’s owl mascot, the pantry will provide Methodist College students in need with non-perishable food items, paper goods, cleaning supplies, and diapers for those students with young children.
A ribbon-cutting event was held on Monday, February 13 at 10 a.m. Methodist College President Dr. Kimberly Johnston was joined by college students and staff in the celebration.
According to the National Student Campaign Against Hunger and Homelessness, food insecurity is defined as the lack of reliable access to sufficient quantities of affordable, nutritious food. A national survey released in October 2016 showed that 1 in 5 students at four-year schools qualified as having very low food security. The national survey also revealed that 32 percent of those surveyed believed that hunger or housing problems had an impact on their education.
Johnston shared the idea of starting a food pantry with the college staff and faculty at the spring semester All College Meeting in January. The idea was well-received by those in attendance.
“The average age of our student population is 27 and 44% of our students receive federal financial aid, with many of our students juggling the responsibilities of family, young children, or part-time jobs,” said Johnston. “We want our students to be successful and helping them in a time of need is certainly a way we can help them accomplish that goal.”
Having an on-campus food pantry is becoming more prevalent across the country. The College & University Food Bank Alliance has 400 member colleges and universities providing food pantries for their student population. The pantries may be operated by the institutions themselves, student government organizations or developed as classroom projects.
When Methodist College nursing instructor Lisa Preston heard Dr. Johnston’s vision for a pantry, she decided to incorporate the project in her spring semester N421 Population Health Nursing Clinical course. She assigned her students the project and they ran with it, conducting a needs assessment of students at the college, developing a list of the highest priority food items, organizing the food pantry room, and shopping for inventory with donated funds. Preston’s class is collaborating with the N120 Health Promotions course taught by nursing instructor Gwen Huls. Those students will be staffing the pantry at various times during the week.
“My students really took this opportunity,” said Preston. “Often in this course we are out in the community working with agencies, but the students were really excited to work on a project that not only would provide assistance to their fellow students, but they gained knowledge and experience they can take into their future careers as nurses.”
Ollie’s Food Pantry will be managed by Methodist College Student Life and Career Services Coordinator, Andre Allen. Allen will coordinate the staffing which will include student volunteers as well as the donation of inventory for the pantry. The food pantry will be staffed Mondays from 10 a.m. to 1 p.m., Tuesdays from 12 p.m. to 2 p.m., and Wednesdays from 10 a.m. to 1 p.m.
More information about the pantry is available at www.methodistcol.edu/ollies-pantry.