Elwood's Cabinet, the new student food pantry, opened to Longwood's campus on Nov. 14 to battle food insecurity among college students. Donations such as canned goods, hygiene products and other essential items can be made any time at Wesley Campus Ministry.
College costs can be financially crippling, leaving some students without food after they’ve paid for textbooks, tuition, supplies and other fees. Many students consider food to be their most flexible expenditure when it comes to cutting expenses, leading them to be food insecure, according to Students Against Hunger.
Student Government Association (SGA) President Josh Darst first learned about food insecurity, the state of being without reliable access to a sufficient amount of affordable and nutritious food, last February at the Conference on Student Government Associations (COSGA) in Texas.
Darst presented some intake from COSGA last year during an SGA meeting and ended his presentation with a proposal that the Longwood community could help with the issue by opening a food pantry.
That’s what he set out to do. Elwood’s Cabinet, the new student food pantry, opened on Nov. 14 at Wesley Campus Ministry for Longwood students. The pantry is meant to combat the issue of food insecurity on Longwood’s campus, since food has become more of an afterthought for college students.
"A long term goal of this is for it to be a student organization," said Darst.
According to a survey conducted by Temple University and the Wisconsin HOPE Lab, 36 percent of students at 66 surveyed colleges and universities do not get enough to eat.
Prince Edward County has a food insecurity rate of 17.3 percent with 47 percent of its citizens below the SNAP threshold for poverty, per Feeding America.
Darst reached out to Justin Hicks, director of Wesley Campus Ministry, in June to ask if the ministry would be interested in partnering with SGA to start the food pantry.
After Hicks agreed to it, Darst established a team that started with SGA Senator Megan Garrett and Sophomore Class President Brandon Bowen. The team has now grown to include Senator Cecil Hayes and SGA Vice President Catherine Swinksy, who took over Lucas Hobson’s position after he announced he was leaving SGA on Nov. 13.
Sophomore Class President Brandon Bowen, SGA Vice President Catherine Swinsky, Senior kinesiology major and President of Wesley Campus Ministry Madison Trebour, Director of Wesley Justin Hicks, Senator Megan Garrett, SGA President Josh Darst, Dean of Student Engagement Cheryl Steele and Elwood celebrate the opening of Elwood's Cabinet.
The idea of a food pantry didn’t just start in Texas, though - according to senior kinesiology major and President of Wesley Campus Ministry Madison Trebour, students and members of the ministry went on a mission trip to Florida during spring break of 2016 and brought back the idea of a food pantry at Longwood.
Trebour wasn’t able to go on the trip, but said that after the other members came back and discussed the idea, she loved it.
“I heard everyone talking about it and how great it was and about how they had started this idea of creating a food pantry at Wesley, and we kind of worked around with the idea for a couple months before we were able to come up with, really, enough supplies,” said Trebour.
The food pantry started with minimal donations from students and faculty members.
Per Trebour, her and Anna Knapp, vice president of Wesley Campus Ministry, were presented with the idea by Hicks after Darst asked if the ministry would like to partner with SGA on the student food pantry.
“We realized by partnering with them we could reach much more of the student body than we currently were,” said Trebour.
According to Trebour, Wesley had the space downstairs and the essentials such as shelves and tables, but needed help with the presence. Within weeks, an empty room downstairs in Wesley quickly became a food pantry for students in need thanks to the help from SGA.
“We started at the beginning of the semester just kind of brainstorming and talking about it, and then all of a sudden we were like, wait, we want to open it this semester,” said Trebour.
At a quick pace, a mural of Elwood’s Cabinet’s logo was painted on the wall and the room was setup to include a lounge next to the shelves. Trebour said the goal was to have the room look a little more modern and calmer than it was.
Mary Carroll-Hackett, creative writing professor, has had her own food pantry out of her office since she came to Longwood to combat the issue of food insecurity after seeing how her students weren’t getting a lot to eat.
“I came here in 2003 and by the end of 2004, I was seeing students who were doing without (food),” said Carroll-Hackett.
Carroll-Hackett said the topic hit close to home to her as someone who grew up poor, but never went without food. However, her mother did, sparking a desire to help students in need. She has a garden and preserves her own food to give to students.
“You can’t learn when you’re hungry; you can’t function when you’re hungry,” said Carroll-Hackett.
Hicks, who became the director of Wesley last June, was an instrumental part in the execution of the food pantry.
“The willingness of people to come and partner, and I don’t think it could’ve happened as fast as it did without people being totally bought in (sic) and totally understanding that this is a need in the Longwood community,” said Hicks.
According to Bowen, the ultimate goal is to establish some kind of point system for students. Elwood’s Cabinet takes donations right now at any time at Wesley Campus Ministry.
Garrett said it is also in the works for organizations to partner with Elwood’s Cabinet for donations and volunteer hours.
Garrett also believes this will help end the issue of food insecurity on campus and hopes that food becomes more of a priority for students.
“I just want to end the problem with food insecurity on campus because I know it’s a big problem for a lot of students, especially with the expensive cost that food is, especially on campus,” said Garrett. “Not only food, but tuition costs arising and your compensation fees arising, so there’s so many costs and fees that students have to deal with and food tends to get pushed to the background, so I don’t want students to be hungry anymore.”
It will be open on Mondays from 6 p.m. to 9:30 p.m. where students can come in, show their Lancer ID to prove they are a student, grab a bag and fill it up with items they need.
