Swoop's Food Pantry helping EMU students who need meals ... - MLive.com

Swoop's Food Pantry helping EMU students who need meals ... - MLive.com

YPSILANTI, MI - After providing 50 Thanksgiving dinners for college students in need, Swoop's Food Pantry is answering the call again this holiday season.

Started last fall by Eastern Michigan University student Haley Moraniec, the food pantry is putting together 48 holiday meals for students as it continues to expand in its second year.

With 22 percent of the students visiting Swoop's experiencing housing instability, Moraniec said the need for a stable source of food is very real, and is never more apparent than during the holiday season.

"I would say that all students can benefit from this, but a lot of invisible barriers that students face to college success has come out from this project," she said. "About 22 percent of students have indicated they are experiencing housing instability -- that could mean they are actively homeless, that they are couch surfing at a friend's house or going from shelter to shelter. A lot of them say that they just lost their job, so this is just a temporary resource for them or that they ran out of meal plan money for the week."

Swoop's Student Food Pantry is a campus-based organization that is run by a leadership board consisting of EMU faculty, staff, students and alumni volunteers. Its mission is to provide EMU students in need with food assistance and additional resources to positively affect well-being and college success.

In a little more than 14 months, Swoop's has had around 1,800 visits from 600 unique visitors. The pantry has given was a little more than 28,000 pounds of food during that time.

Moving the pantry to its new, expanded quarters in Pierce Hall on the east side of campus to better serve students, Moraniec said giving students a comfortable space to get food when they need it has remained her top focus and priority.

"When I first started the pantry, I wanted to make sure it was a comfortable space because I know that going hungry can be extremely stigmatizing," said Moraniec, who is now a graduate student at EMU. "It can be difficult for students to actually reach out for help. Trying to normalize it and making sure everyone feels welcome coming here is important."

There is no eligibility requirement to receive food from Swoop's, Moraniec said, only that students must be enrolled at EMU. The pantry does provide food to the community at-large on a one-time basis, before referring them to other community resources.

About 10 volunteers have given their time to put the holiday baskets together, which are going to be distributed on Friday, Dec. 9. The baskets consist of a turkey or ham, oranges, mixed nuts, hot cocoa, stuffing, scalloped potatoes and green beans.

Working with students in need has been an eye-opening experience for volunteer and EMU senior Mariel Berdin, who has been with Swoop's from the beginning.

"Before working with the pantry, I didn't even know that was an issue," she said. "It's opened my eyes and made me realize there are students struggling and not a lot of people know about it.

"For me, it's students coming in feeling very grateful," she added. "I know some of them get really emotional. You can always tell how sincere they are that we provide this kind of service on campus."

If you are interested in helping or donating to Swoop's, contact the pantry by email at swoopspantry@emich.edu or by phone at (734) 487-4173. You also can support Swoop's Student Food Pantry at Eastern Michigan University by donating online.