Student Food Pantry

Story and photos by: Beth Nocerini

The CMU Student Food Pantry is open and free to all enrolled students attending CMU. As said on their page, “At CMU, as many as one in every three students may be experiencing hunger. The Student Food Pantry is here to support students who need a little extra help, so they can focus on their academic success.”  

The pantry is open Monday-Friday and is in Robinson Hall. Students must fill out the registration form online before receiving items but do not need an appointment, just to show up during distributing hours.  

Paige Darrow is a freshman at CMU and one of the first friendly faces students see when entering the building.  

“You really get to connect with a bunch of different people, and you feel like you’re helping with a bunch of different things since there’s so much we offer here,” Darrow said.  

Darrow explained how there is more than food at the pantry, such as the care pantry also available to students. It includes toiletries items, cleaning products, and more. Students are able to pick five items from this area per visit.  

“I thought it would be a good opportunity to get involved and make a change with food insecurity since it’s a rising issue,” Darrow said.  

The pantry is run primarily by CMU graduate students. Rachel Adu is the graduate assistant at the pantry and is in her second year of getting her master’s in public health. 

Some of her jobs include but are not limited to coordinating distribution and inventory as well as donations, stocking items, and ordering products they are in need of.  

Funding for the pantry primarlity comes from donors such as organizations and alumni as well as a portion coming from the university.  

“As an international student the pantry has been a reliable resource for me,” Adu said, “I love it here and what we do.”  

Adu talked about the rising issue of food insecurity and how we must worry about people’s access to food just as much as we worry about them when they get sick.  

Volunteers are essential to the pantry. Students are able to sign up and give back to their school with multiple different shifts open for volunteers to help.  

“When you get involved, we save money by not having to hire someone,” Adu said.