Saltine crackers and jelly.

That was dinner for Joseph Shepard and his two siblings growing up in a single-parent household.

“She was struggling as a single mother, and it was difficult to make ends meet,” Shepard said.

Shepard remembers his dad telling him to eat everything on his plate at school because he might not eat that night.  

The familiar childhood memories came back Shepard’s freshman year at Wichita State when he saw students come to the Office of Multicultural Affairs—now the Office of Diversity and Inclusion—to get something to eat.

When Shepard became student body president, he did not want students going to bed hungry, and established plans for a food pantry on campus.

After polling 100 students with an online survey last fall, Student Government Association found that almost 50 percent of students that took the survey have had to choose between buying food and buying other items, and more than 30 percent of students have had to skip a meal because they could not afford to eat.

Eric Maki, director of Campus Recreation at WSU, offered the Heskett Center as a storage and distribution location once he heard of SGA’s plans to create a food pantry.

“After paying for academics and books and all the things that go with it, we had some students that just had a need, especially during the weekend when some of the dining is not available and they were just in a situation where they were going hungry,” Maki said.  

For students, by students

Starting Thursday, students can fill out an order form on SGA’s website and pick up their pre-made food items from 2 to 4 p.m. the following Monday, Feb. 1 and Friday, Feb. 5 at the equipment distribution center at the Heskett Center.

“We have the form so that people can have a preference,” said Kiah Duggins, SGA chief of staff and organizer of the food pantry initiative. “So we are giving people food that they actually want to eat.”

The pantry will not discriminate based on income or limit the number of times visitors frequent the pantry. It is also centrally located on campus for those without reliable transportation.

 “We have faith in Shocker Nation, that if you are coming to the food pantry it is because you need to supplement the amount of food that you have,” Duggins said.

Students can choose three items from the list of options on the online form: boxed macaroni, pasta, ramen noodles, canned meats, rice, beans, peanut butter, canned soups, dry soup mix, canned fruits and vegetables.

To start, SGA has a good amount of canned food, peanut butter and ramen donated by students for the opening day next week.

“We don’t know how much support we are going to have, so having the once-weekly set up helps us to gauge how active this food pantry is going to be,” Duggins said.

From the beginning, SGA has wanted the food pantry to be a student-operated initiative. Duggins said she hopes to create a committee that recruits volunteers and restocks the pantry when needed.

She also hopes student organizations will volunteer to distribute food at the pantry. Those interested in volunteering can sign up on SGA’s website, and SGA is always accepting food or monetary donations.

Maki said he volunteered his staff to hand out the food, but SGA wanted to be involved as much as possible.

“The generation of students we have now are very civic-minded,” Maki said. “They love to give and help others.”

Food insecurity

The United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) defines food insecurity as not having access to adequate food because of financial reasons. Students can be four times more likely to suffer from food insecurity than the average American.

“A lot of students’ disposable income is not enough for them to cover a lot of their basic needs,” Duggins said. “So, there are students who skip meals, which is a form of food insecurity because they can’t afford to buy a meal.”

Amanda Johnson is a financial adviser with the Office for Student Money Management at WSU. She said the average income of the students who visit the office is $600 per month, and no matter how hard they try to make the money stretch, something has to give.  

With the average rent for a one-bedroom apartment in Wichita at $540, some students only have $60 left for food, gas, electricity, Internet and clothes.

According to a USDA Food Plan that calculates the average cost of food in the United States as of February 2015, a college student on a “thrifty plan” can spend $160 to $180 on food each month.

Johnson said the most vulnerable are international, first-year and minority students.

“International students are economically vulnerable coming to a new country, trying to find housing, jobs to fund their lifestyle,” she said.

But, even then, there is no “cookie-cutter” student.

“The students that will utilize the service are not the students you would profile needing to use the food pantry,” Johnson said.

Duggins agreed. Students who suffer from food insecurity are not homeless or are not always noticeably having a hard time.

“All of the students who came up to me or contacted me that were grateful about the food pantry, were students that I never would have guessed suffered from food insecurity,” Duggins said. “The students that I talked to are very involved, very high-achieving and look like the everyday, average student.”

Stigma

Throughout the planning process, one of Duggin’s and Shepard’s main priorities was minimizing the stigma that goes along with not having food.

“Not having enough to eat can be a sensitive or maybe embarrassing situation for some students, and so we did not want to further compound that embarrassment or sense of insecurity by advertising that they are participating in the food pantry,” Duggins said.

To sign up for a bag, students only need to provide their student ID number to ensure that their identity stays anonymous from volunteers assembling the food bags.  

Duggins said she hopes the location where SGA decided to distribute the food will reduce the stigma, as well.

Students will pick up their bags at the equipment distribution center where students already check out items such as rock-climbing gear, tennis rackets and basketballs. Duggins said she hopes the number of students using the space to check out other items will take attention away from people picking up their bags.

Now that the plans are in place and the food is collected, all SGA can do is wait for the students to come.

“The students that I know at Wichita State, specifically, who suffer from food insecurity, contribute so much to this campus, and so I think that it’s only a small thing that a campus as a whole can do to make sure they are eating and that their basic needs are met,” Duggins said.

Want to donate?

Food and money donations can be delivered to RSC 219, or mailed to 1845 N. Fairmount, Box 56

Make check or money order to “SGA food pantry”

Food pick-up times

2 to 4 p.m. Feb. 1

2 to 4 p.m. Feb. 5

Online forms finalized Thursday

Every following Friday from 2 to 4 p.m.

Heskett Center equipment room