Chicago State University Opens Food Pantry For Students, Staff, Faculty And Alumni

Chicago State University recently opened a food pantry on campus for students, staff, faculty, and alumni. Photo Credit: Provided by Chicago State University
Chicago State University recently opened a food pantry on campus for students, staff, faculty, and alumni. Photo Credit: Provided by Chicago State University

Chicago State University Opens Food Pantry For Students, Staff, Faculty And Alumni

BY KATHERINE NEWMAN

Chicago State University recently celebrated the opening of its new food pantry on campus which was established to assist students, faculty, staff, and alumni overcome food insecurities. The food pantry is a part of the university’s Student Affairs division and is partnered with the Greater Chicago Food Depository.

The Chicago State University food pantry is open once a week on Thursdays from 4 p.m. to 7 p.m. and is located in the Cordell Reed Student Union Building.

“We supply fresh produce, meats, dairy, toiletries, canned goods, perishables, and non-perishables. We have all of those available for students, staff, faculty, and alumni. They are allowed to come twice a month to receive these items and there’s no charge or no cost to anyone and it is primarily run by student workers,” said Sydnie Monegan, Women’s Resource Center coordinator at Chicago State University.

This is the first semester that the food pantry has been open and it was created, in part, as a result of the university finding that 67% of its students identified as low-income on their FAFSA (Federal Aid Financial Student Assistance) application in 2018, according to information provided by Chicago State University.

“Food insecurity is an issue of equity and affects many students around the nation,” said Zaldwaynaka Scott, president of Chicago State University. “We don’t want our students to choose between buying books and food, we want to keep them focused on their studies and eliminate barriers to degree completion.”

Going along with the findings that more than half of the students at Chicago State University are living in a low-income household, Monegan said that the Women’s Resource Center helped about 70 students who were struggling with housing and food insecurities in 2018.

“Housing and food insecurity is a large barrier for the students. It’s very hard to focus on studies or anything else if you’re concerned about where your next meal is going to come from,” said Monegan. “We have a large base of our students who are going through several issues that result in hunger.”

Since opening, Monegan said there have been anywhere from 70 to 80 people a week coming to the food pantry and that it has proved to not only be a valuable resource for students but also for faculty and staff at Chicago State University.

“What I’ve learned is that the staff is just as appreciative. We often think that those of us with full-time jobs at universities, which are well-paying jobs, don’t have struggles, but we have had staff say that their family is having some medical or financial issues and that the food pantry is a relief to them,” said Monegan.

If you would like to donate to the Chicago State University food pantry, contact the Women’s Resource Center at Chicago State University via e-mail at wrc@csu.edu or by phone at (773) 995-4447.

Latest Stories

Latest Podcast

On The 9 Run Crew