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The Marshall University food pantry has an objective of providing Marshall students and Huntington residents who are in need of food assistance with a weekly supply of groceries that cover all the food groups.
The pantry focuses on ending food insecurity, which is the state of being without reliable access to a sufficient quantity of affordable, nutritious food.
“The mission of the facility is to not only provide food but to also promote nutrition by providing a variety of foods from different food groups,” said Sydney Mangialetti, director of Marshall’s food pantry.
The pantry opened roughly four years ago and was initially a small room in the dietetics department located in Pullman Square. There was a move to the Tri-State MRI Building after the location was donated to Marshall to help provide a more convenient location for students who may not have the resources to travel.
“Anyone who is in need is welcome to the pantry to shop for groceries once a week,” Mangialetti said.
Mangialetti said she wishes to expand the variety of foods offered at the pantry to cater to a larger population of students with different dietary needs, including vegan, halal and kosher items.
Volunteers are welcome to help out when they can. Jordan Ware has been volunteering since the beginning of the summer and said she feels at home when working at the pantry.
“I feel like it was the perfect fit for me,” Ware said. “I felt like it was impacting to be involved with the pantry because it is helping students on campus and people in the community with food insecurity.”
During the summer, food pantry volunteers had the opportunity to go out into the Huntington community to provide information about what the pantry does and to ensure that members of the public knew that they can receive groceries or nutritional guidance and assistance.
“I noticed that students were lethargic about accepting the help,” Ware said. “We want them to know that we are here to assist in any way we can.”
The food pantry is open from 9:30 a.m. to 11:30 a.m. on Tuesdays and from 12 p.m. to 2 p.m. on Wednesdays.
Taylor Speight can be contacted at [email protected]
