Fighting Food Insecurity with GSU's Essential Food Pantry

 By Justin Helms, Liz Lavender, Alexa Ovington, and Devon Williams

Frances Lavender · Students Helping Students: how and why to get involved with Eagle Essentials

In Bulloch County, one in three individuals do not have enough to eat. At Georgia Southern University, one in six students do not have enough to eat.

The Eagle Essentials Food Pantry located in the Williams Center at Georgia Southern University, has spent roughly the past year and a half in efforts to minimize the number of students in need. 

“Right before the pandemic hit, a committee was formed to get things off the ground and parking worked with us to start the initial food drive that we did, which brought in a ton of food,” said Casey Weaver, the Assistant Dean of Student Care and Well-Being.

Weaver estimates that the pantry has enough to feed 200 to 300 students comfortably in an instant, but they are trying to expand their resources from the bare minimum to include specialty items. 

The pantry has plenty of canned foods

There are plenty of canned vegetables, canned meats, and pastas. They have also expanded to include personal hygiene products, feminine products, and school supplies. 

“There is a list of top items that we are looking for, but we will accept anything,” said Weaver.

There are five rooms for the pantry. Four of them are dedicated to canned foods and drinks such as bottled water. The last room, the ‘hygiene closet’, contains a variety of hygiene products including shower essentials and feminine care. 

The "hygiene closet" of the pantry

The food pantry thrives on the volunteer work of other students. There are around 25 students who staff the food pantry for community service hours. The Leadership and Community Engagement Office also brings eight students in per week, which adds an additional 30 students to assist the pantry regularly. 

There are also students who assist the food pantry in their on-campus classes. 

“The Eagle Essential Food Pantry is my client for my non-profit class this semester, and the reason that we are helping them out is because many students are not aware of the resources on campus that are available for them,” said Caroline Brass, Georgia Southern University student. 

Brass enjoys assisting the food pantry, because she knows that she is “serving the student body as well, and hopefully expanding the reach of the food pantry”.

Professors at the university who are supplying their students to help improve the outreach of the pantry, have encouraged how important it is for the food pantry to be students helping students. 

“We decided it would be helpful if students understood what it was like to give back to the university,” said Dr. Hayley Higgs, a Georgia Southern University professor. Higgs and her students have dedicated their class time to plan food drives and advocate for the easy accessibility and the benefits of the pantry. By educating her own students on how to help support their fellow classmates, resources have remained stocked, and more students have become aware of the pantry.

“What we did this semester is we took the nonprofit side of the food pantry and we looked at fundraising, grant writing, volunteerism and how we can beneficially help students, faculty, and staff who are having a hard time,” said Higgs. 

Higgs also mentioned that as a professor, she cannot expect students to perform well if their basic needs are not being met, and this also encourages the drive to lend a helping hand to advertising and raising awareness for the pantry. 

While the pantry is a successful resource to those who utilize it, many students on campus are still unaware of these accommodations. 

“The eagle essential food pantry is my client for my non-profit class this semester, and the reason that we are helping them out is because many students are not aware of the resources on campus that are available for them,” said Brass.

“I wasn’t aware of the food pantry on campus, but I think it is very useful for people who know about it if they do need the food, they can utilize it to their advantage, and if you don’t personally need the food, you can promote it and help other folks know it's available,” said Noah Lampkin, a student at Georgia Southern University who had no knowledge of Eagle Essentials. 

Lampkin continued by expressing he was grateful the university had made efforts to assist students who could be in need on campus. Stating how a large university should be aware of students who are struggling daily just to get by. 

“I think the students who do know about it, should make sure they are making it aware to those they notice are in need,” said Lampkin. 

Noah Lampkin

Students who are looking for the assistance of Eagle Essentials, can quickly receive the assistance of the food pantry. Graciously, no proof of need is required for students to use the pantry. The Dean of Students is aware that students might be uncomfortable having to reach out for help and has made it simple through their website. 

“If students need to access it all they need to do is go to the dean of students website and at the very top of it, it says ‘food insecurity.’ If they go to that page, it will talk all about what resources we have for food insecurity and there is an intake form on the page, and once they complete that, they will receive an email from us on how to access the food pantry and everything they need to do. So, the first step is just completing the intake form,” Weaver said.

Eagle Essentials has continued to try to make the pantry feel as casual as possible for students. They have set up the pantry rooms to where they have a “grocery store feel”. They also have applied for Marketing Grants and are currently on a zero-base budget. One of the uses of this grant would be to hopefully continue to make the pantry feel like a shopping experience to let students keep their sense of independence in their early adulthood. 

More cans and snack foods

The Williams Center will also be receiving renovations in the upcoming semesters. This will thankfully allow for an expansion of the Eagle Essentials Food Pantry, making the pantry have the opportunity to hold even more supplies for students, and hopefully expand their inventory as well. 

The pantry continues to encourage students helping fellow students, and they encourage volunteers to get involved in their on-campus community. If students have the availability to lend a helping hand, assistance is always appreciated at the pantry. Volunteers can easily email the dean of students and ask to speak with Casey Weaver. He will set up a quick thirty-minute training session to explain the confidentiality of volunteers. Once that has been completed, students can sign up for two hour shifts to stock the pantry, help check expiration dates, and support their peers in need.