When the former minister of the University of Oregon Episcopal Campus Ministry recognized a growing malnutrition problem on campus in the fall of 2011, he gave his garage a drastic makeover. Along with volunteers eager to relieve hunger, the minister turned the space into the university’s own food pantry.
Every Thursday afternoon, Lane Community College, Northwest Christian University and UO students are eligible for a bag full of free food simply by showing their student ID to a food pantry volunteer.
These volunteers — of whom there are between 8 and 10 — explain the point system to each student and guide them through the pantry, helping them select from an array of produce, canned food, prepackaged meals, dairy products and cereals, among other foods.
Since partnering with FOOD For Lane County, a nonprofit organization dedicated to fighting hunger in Lane County, last fall, the food pantry’s popularity has taken off.
“We’re still drawing people who’ve never utilized it,” said Reverend Doug Hale, the Oregon Episcopal Campus Ministry’s current minister. In fact, of the 45-65 students who take advantage of the service each week, roughly 20 of them are first-time visitors.
Since teaming up with FOOD For Lane County, the food pantry distributes 600 pounds of food each week, and though the service is available for any college student in the area, all but one or two each week are enrolled at the UO.
“The amount of food we distribute is significantly less than regular food pantries, but the difference is that students can come here every week,” Hale said, noting that larger food pantries typically limit customers to around 60 visits a year. At the University’s food pantry, students are eligible for free food each week throughout the year.
Jessica Wilson, a dietitian at the UO Health Center, has been helping out at the food pantry since its conception.
“My involvement is because some students don’t have enough money to eat,” she said. Wilson started noticing malnutrition issues at the Health Center and was instrumental in founding the food pantry. Now she coordinates, volunteers and manages the ministry’s operation.
As the food pantry finds its footing, and even eyes a remodel of its space at the hands of University architecture students, its goodwill has rippled through the community — Lane Community College and several other churches in the county have started their own food pantries in the last year.
“The awareness people have for this need has just kind of mushroomed,” said Hale, who continues facilitating the UO’s food pantry every Thursday from 4-6 pm at the ministry’s headquarters on 19th Avenue and Onyx Street.