John Carroll University students received an email on Monday, Sept. 30, about a food pantry coming to campus for the 2019-2020 school year. 

“We thought about when the well begins to run dry, and when you are at a point where dollars are being stretched, how can we help?” said Assistant Vice President for Student Enrollment and Financial Services Claudia Wenzel of the goals of the new JCU food pantry.

Wenzel explained that the idea for the food pantry came about when one of the board of directors asked a question about food insecurity on John Carroll’s campus, after reading about the issue being prevalent at other institutions. “So, that causes us to question our own biases and assumptions that we didn’t have that issue here, and the survey helped to solidify that. Although there was no large issue, there was an issue. And so we wanted to fill that need.”

The college decided to send  a survey to JCU students and faculty during the Spring 2019 semester. A total of 685 people responded to the survey, with 85% of those responses coming from students. Wenzel said that the results of the survey were “a really good response, and I think a surprising response for us.”

Wenzel explained that most of the respondents lived off campus, and that a good portion have experienced food insecurity. “Based on these results, we made the decision to begin a pilot program. This is a program for the duration of this academic year.”

Many people around the JCU community worked together to bring the food pantry to fruition, including Dean of Students Sherri Crahen, Campus Ministry, the Financial Services office, Residence Life, Center for Service and Social Action and Student Government. “We met over late spring and most of the summer so that we could begin this process, and we did some benchmarking, surveys, and some outreach with other institutions to see what they did,” shared Wenzel.

Since this year is a pilot program for the JCU food pantry, there will be a limited number of non-perishable goods. At the end of the year, the committee will judge how well the program is working and whether adjustments need to be made.The food pantry is not accepting donations until it completed the first year of piloting.

Practically, the food pantry will be offered and available every other Friday. Food can be picked up from the commuter lounge. Students who are food insecure can register to pick up food through the link sent out on on Sept. 30, or by emailing [email protected].

The first pick up is this Friday, Oct. 4, and Wenzel expressed excitement over the first official pickup date. “I think people feel really passionate about it, and almost every response we’ve had has been positive.”

Wenzel said that overall, the new food pantry “is another way to support the needs of our students. This has been a long road, and I think the main takeaway is the tremendous amount of support on campus for this effort.”

More information can be found by emailing [email protected] or stopping by the Campus Ministry Office.