A brand new food pantry has opened in a place where you might not expect it. Creighton University students have established the Creighton Cupboard food pantry on campus.
It opens on Wednesday in the lower level of McGloin Hall on campus. It will provide complete meals for undergraduate, graduate and professional students who identify as food insecure.
A University of Wisconsin HOPE Lab study found 36 percent of students at four-year institutions identify as having low food security, meaning there are a variety of indications of disrupted eating and reduced food intake defined by the U.S. Department of Agriculture.
Creighton joins more than 650 on-campus food pantries in the United States. The image of a student between the ages of 18-22 entering college from their parents home is no longer the majority, and the number of first-generation and low income students is steadily rising. In some cases students have to decide between feeding their families and staying in college.
“There is a national conversation on college campuses about food insecurity. Acknowledging that Creighton enrolls students nationally and internationally who may struggle similarly, the Division of Student Life wanted to look at how we could help remove a barrier to student success,” says Dr. Michele Bogard, Creighton University associate vice provost for Student Engagement.
“We want to ensure that students have at least a nutritious meal in their stomach so that they can achieve in the classrooms, clinics, labs, work, etc. As a Catholic Jesuit institution, we are called to be men and women who are for and with others, opening a food pantry on campus is one small way that we can walk in solidarity with our students who face low and very low food insecurity.”
Students must register first to receive assistance from Creighton Cupboard. While it is funded by the Division of Student Life, the pantry does accept donations.