An ASUW resolution that was voted on during the 2019 fall semester has taken off at the University of Wyoming.
The UW Food Pantry has officially found a location to begin helping students, being relocated from the Union to Knight Hall.
“The pantry was a response to the pandemic,” Co-coordinator of the Food Security Task Force, Caitlin McLennan said in a Zoom interview. “It was an emergency situation and now it’s permanent.”
The pantry has the potential to be available to everyone in the Laramie community in the future, but as of now it will only be open to university students and staff. ASUW and the Risk Management Department have been working together on limitations that need to be set in place.
“This year will be limited because we have visitor restrictions on campus and inviting Laramie community members into one of our buildings is not advisable,” ASUW Vice President, Courtney Titus said in a Zoom interview. “I don’t want to guarantee anything that we can’t deliver on.”
While the pantry has been open during the summer, it will be closed Aug. 7 through Aug. 24. During that time, McLennan says they will begin redirecting people to Laramie Mutual Aid, an organization she is in charge of.
The organization has volunteers that purchase food from Big Hollow Food Coop and deliver those items to the person requesting it. McLennan also said they will also be directing people to the Laramie Interfaith pantry.
Accessing the food pantry is still up for discussion among the task force. There are two proposed methods to interact with the pantry, one being that student’s school IDs would have to be swiped and another is the traditional signing off on a piece of paper.
Employment for the pantry is also being handled. Titus explained that they intend on hiring a part-time employee to watch over the area, but the number of hours worked are still being assessed.
Additionally, Titus says the exposure of the employee is important since they are working with not only students but the food as well. She highly encourages students and staff to consider pick-up or delivery rather than just stopping by.
Titus explained that a lot of the progress with the food pantry has been over the past three months. The pantry was looked at as a final goal with a loose timeline but has now been pushed to forefront because of COVID.
“The food pantry was kind of the pie in the sky,” she said. “It’s something we weren’t sure we’d accomplish.”
Titus has major goals she’d like to see accomplished with the pantry, including making its access more than pick-up. She is hoping they can implement delivery for those who can’t come to campus and pick up food.
“We are also looking at deliveries,” Titus explained. “On Saturday delivery days we can gather some volunteers and do deliveries to students in the Laramie community.”
Another major goal of the task force is centered around challenging the narrative that college life is supposed to be hard. McLennan is adamant about making others understand that even though many are low on money, they should be able to eat.
“Our ethic as a task force is saying, it’s not okay to go to class hungry or skip a meal for a book,” McLennan said. “This poverty might be temporary but you’re still a person.”
The food pantry has received a lot of support from individuals, but there is still some misunderstanding of its importance. Some of the uncertain and varied support comes from the Board of Trustees and UW Foundation.
McLennan and Titus said the implementation of the pantry has opened communication up between those who agree and disagree on the subject. They intend on clearing up some of the disconnection between the larger organizations and the task force.
They have already given several presentations via Zoom to higher officials on campus to help mend the misunderstanding about the pantry.
“I want to recognize Dean O’Neal and Vice President Chestnut attending these task force meetings each and every time showing steadfast support,” Titus said.
There is a clear line between those who want the best for the pantry and those who are more hesitant. Staff and faculty who work with students on a regular basis know that food insecurity is one of the harder challenges as a college student.
The UW Food Pantry is planned to open when classes begin and might open sooner to assist those who have moved back to Laramie early. By having a soft opening, students and staff can visit the pantry and familiarize themselves with the new location.
