A second food pantry at WKU has opened on South Campus to better serve students, faculty and staff at that location.
According to Debra Hall, an office coordinator and administrative assistant in the School of University Studies, the food pantry has been open since June. The South Campus has had the idea for a while now and has been working on the project for about six months, Hall said.
Although the Office of Sustainability already has a food pantry on WKU's main campus, the South Campus decided to open a new one to accommodate students and faculty who are usually at the South Campus location.
“It’s a known fact that many people are facing hunger, and that includes students, faculty and staff,” Hall said. “We hope that the food pantry will assist those who face hunger with an option to find a meal. This kind of opportunity needs to exist for all WKU students and staff.”
Although Hall did not initiate the project, she and several South Campus student workers have taken it on. Currently, they are working with the Office of Sustainability to make the two pantries a “joint effort” and possibly host a joint food drive in the future.
Freshmen Sabre Semrau and Rebecca Price, who are involved with many of the Office of Sustainability’s organizations, recently prepared a food drive in Minton Hall for the main campus food pantry. According to Semrau, “the generosity and positive feedback” was encouraging, and she thinks a dual food drive could “bring attention” to the South Campus food pantry.
“A joint food drive will be able to reach a much larger audience and hopefully receive even more donations than a solitary one would,” Semrau said.
There is no set date for the food drive yet, but any information regarding it will be posted on the Office of Sustainability’s webpage, which now holds a section for the South Campus food pantry.
The second food pantry is located in room C231 on South Campus.
Its current hours are from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. on Monday through Thursday and 8 a.m. to 4 p.m. on Fridays. According to Hall, the food pantry will set formal hours in the future, which will be updated accordingly on the webpage.
Both food pantries accept donations, and a list of needed items can be found on the webpage as well. Items like canned chicken, rice and pasta are currently listed as the top needed items.
Although Hall said the specifics of the food pantry are a “work in progress,” the mission of the South Campus is clear.
“As part of the WKU Community, we need to recognize that there is a broad spectrum of students and faculty and staff that need a meal sometimes,” Hall said. “It may be once, it may be many times, but as a community we need to make our resources available to all who have a need without placing judgement."
Reporter Adrianna Waters can be reached at 270-745-6011 and adrianna.waters406@topper.wku.edu.
