2022 LSU Gumbo - Book - Page 127
The LSU African American Cultural Center is hosting
its 2022 Martin Luther King Food Drive and is inviting
students, faculty, and campus organizations to donate.
The AACC Center is accepting donations until
Monday, and the campus organization that donates the
most food will win the Food Drive Award.
Donations will go to the LSU Food Pantry, which
assists financially insecure students with getting
the food and nourishment they need. Items needed
include snack foods, candy, drinks, seasonings, pasta,
granola bars, and cooking supplies.
Some campus organizations participating in the
food drive include the Latin American Student
Organization Collective and the Office of Civil Rights
and Title IX.
Jennie Stewart, American Disabilities Act
Coordinator for the Office of Civil Rights and Title
IX, says the idea of a campus food pantry started 10
years ago when she was working in the Office of the
Dean of Students and the Office of Student Advocacy
and Accountability, where she met a representative
from Florida State University who mentioned the food
pantry they had on their campus.
“That would be a dream for LSU,” Stewart said.
“[LSU] could never do that. The representative told
me that the food pantry was just a bookshelf with a file
cabinet in a closet. I said, ‘That we could do.’”
With the support of former LSU Dean Casey White,
and former associate dean of students Matt Gregory, a
proposal was made, and the LSU Food Pantry became
a reality.
“It started in a filing room with some scrap
bookcases from surplus,” Stewart said. “People just
started donating. The Food Pantry grew beyond what
it occupied. I and others were just checking Tiger
Cards to make sure people were students. We saved
Walmart bags for students to use. The food pantry was
homegrown.”
Since its beginning, the LSU Food Pantry has
continually expanded with help from partnerships and
donations from people in the LSU community.
“We then realized that the need was growing,
donations were growing, partnerships needed to grow.
It was transferred over from the Office of the Dean of
Students to the Department of Campus Life,” Stewart
said.
The LSU Food Pantry gives out around 1000
pounds of food per day and provides many benefits for
students.
“Some students’ ability to concentrate decreases
when [they are] food insecure,” Stewart said. “Some
students are waiting for a financial aid check or are
victims of natural disaster, to which they become food
insecure. The food pantry’s purpose was not just to
make people smile and be happy. It was more so of
meeting a very basic need.”
Interdisciplinary Studies senior, Cornel Sims Jr.,
is helping with the food drive and is grateful for any
support offered to the event.
“People who are just down on their luck are
benefiting from this food drive,” Sims said. “Some
students have been affected during this pandemic.
These people may need some food donations to lift
their spirits up.”
Sims said he has been in a situation where he didn’t
have items he needed and that a helping hand goes a
long way.
Although the food drive is held during Black
History Month, Sims encourages organizations and
students of all backgrounds to donate food.
“It doesn’t matter what race or ethnicity you are, just
give,” Sims said. “We want to have the Martin Luther
King spirit, giving back to people just as he did.”
International Management freshman, Emily Demps,
volunteers with the LSU Food Pantry. She assists
with civic engagement, youth disconnect and food
insecurity within the Food Pantry.
Demps encourages all students, food-insecure or
not, to take advantage of what the pantry has to offer.
Faculty and staff are also welcomed to use the pantry.
“The LSU Food Pantry is a good resource for
individuals on campus,” Demps said. “When you
hear the words ‘food pantry,’ you think someone is
struggling financially. However, in college, we are all
struggling financially. Students, faculty, and staff can
come into the pantry and pick out whatever they want
without having a financial burden.”
“People who come in are always grateful,” Demps
said. “When volunteers bring pizza, it puts a smile on
people’s faces. The students that are dependent on
the food pantry for weekly nourishment are the most
impacted.”
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