When money is tight, do you spend it on food or on books?
That’s a question one in four Old Dominion University students had to face this past semester, according to the campus IGNITE food pantry.
Since it opened in August, the pantry has provided 650 meals for more than 70 ODU students, staff, and faculty struggling to make ends meet, pantry outreach coordinator Frances McHugh said.
“We’ve actually received more people than expected,” she said. “There were weeks last semester where we served anywhere between 15 and 25 clients.”
The pantry, which is run by student volunteers, provides weekly supplemental food assistance using a point system based on household size, McHugh said.
The plan for the organization was set in motion following a campus-wide survey that found 25 percent of students experienced food insecurity at some point during each week, IGNITE ministries pastor Brandon Robbins said.
“That information showed us there was clearly an issue,” he said. “They just didn’t know where their next meal was going to come from.”
To lay the groundwork for the pantry, IGNITE worked with larger universities, where similar campus organizations operate, McHugh said.
“When we talked to places like Virginia Commonwealth University and Virginia Tech, they told us their pantries had slow starts, serving maybe two people a week, but we have been getting the word out there,” she said. “It’s already benefiting a lot of people.”
To help spread the word and build involvement, IGNITE has established partnerships with a number of groups on campus, including a nutrition class that has incorporated the food pantry into its course work, McHugh said.
“The class comes in to give nutritional advice and help clients select healthy meals,” she said. “It really brings together the entire campus community.”
IGNITE only provides non-perishable food items like peanut butter, canned goods, chips, and microwavable meals, but the pantry hopes to provide fresh foods in the future, Robbins said.
“We’ve looked into partnerships with groceries and restaurants, and may one day graduate to offering fresh foods,” Robbins said. “We’ve received an incredible amount of support from the school and try to be really generous with the amount of food we provide.”
The pantry is always accepting donations of non-perishable items and monetary contributions, which the pantry uses to purchase items at a reduced cost.
“People think if you have enough money to pay for tuition you should have enough money to pay for food. They don’t realize that food insecurity is something that happens on college campuses,” McHue said.
“That’s why we are giving people the opportunity to serve one another,” Robbins continued. “It’s a real gift to empower students to engage with the community.”
The pantry is located at 1338 W 49th Street and open from 3-7 p.m. on Tuesdays and Wednesdays.
Learn more about the IGNITE food pantry at www.ignitenorfolk.org.
