More and more Syracuse University students are starting to use the services that the Hendricks Chapel food pantry has to offer. To keep pace with this steady growth, the pantry will need to expand its services and resources.

Since the food pantry opened last semester, it has served about 30 students, according to Ginny Yerdon, an event coordinator and administrative specialist in Hendricks Chapel. Yerdon also said that the pantry provides assistance to about 3-4 students per week.

For the food pantry to expand its services, it first needs to move to a bigger space. Presently, the pantry is housed in a relatively small, converted chaplain’s office in Hendricks Chapel. The converted office only has three walls of shelves for storing non-perishable food items, Yerdon said.

A much larger space should be opening up on the SU campus next year. The bookstore is moving out of the Schine Student Center and into a new facility on the corner of University Avenue and Harrison Street. The food pantry would be an ideal candidate to fill the empty space left behind in Schine.

Once it moves to a bigger space, the pantry will also need more food items and volunteers to improve efficiency. Since the pantry is dependent on donations, it could benefit by entering into a partnership with a local supermarket like Tops or Wegmans.

Some supermarkets place donation jars next to their registers for customers to donate money to charitable causes. A supermarket like Tops or Wegmans could take donations for the food pantry in Hendricks. In return, the food pantry could agree to spend the money collected at the supermarket that collected it.

With more resources, the pantry could also develop a program where volunteers deliver grocery packages to students in need. Students would either sign up for foods they want or order a standard package of foods grouped together for nutritional value. A volunteer delivery program could eliminate the stigma of going to a food pantry that might keep some hungry students from visiting.

As the pantry attracts more students, expansion may be necessary to continue its services and sufficiently provide for the SU community. If the pantry expands, it will become clear to hungry students that they are not alone.

Published on February 11, 2014 at 3:15 am

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