By Cole Gee | Reporter
As part of its many initiatives to help fight food insecurity on Baylor’s campus, The Store partnered up with Texas Tech University to host a food drive competition from Oct. 11-19. The two food pantries used the friendly competition from the recent Texas Tech football game in order to inspire participation on their campuses.
The idea first came from a partnership called the Big 12 Food Pantry Alliance, which seeks to fight food insecurity among the colleges in the Big 12 Conference. Texas Tech mostly accepted monetary donations, and Baylor’s food pantry received major support from students.
Dallas junior Simin Kurji helped handle the majority of the communication aspect of the food drive and described the work as a rewarding experience.
“It was super fun. I attended some Zoom meetings and just talked with their marketing team and coordinated with ours. Basically, we planned a food drive, like a competition for the Tech game here,” Kurji said. “Overall, it was pretty good. I learned a lot meeting everyone and learning how other schools’ food pantries operate.”
Working alongside Kurji was Denver doctoral candidate and operation manager for The Store, Madeline Whitmore. She wrote her dissertation on the topic of food pantries and their vital importance for many students across the country.
She said since the recent move out of Sid Richardson’s basement, The Store has seen an uptick in students. She said around 2,500 students are facing food insecurity on campus right now, and she has seen around 600 students fill out intake forms.
According to research done by the National Center for Education Statistics, the issue of food insecurity goes beyond Baylor’s campus. Nearly 1 in 4 students faces some form of food insecurity.
“College students are probably three times more likely than the general population to experience food insecurity,” Whitmore said. “But we really sort of normalize that, you know, everyone jokes about being poor in college, or being only able to afford to eat ramen, or you having sleep for dinner — those sorts of jokes. But those aren’t, that’s a real, it’s a real issue.”
Students who wish to help The Store still have time to donate before the drive ends. Madeline said she recommends that students donate “treat” items such as ramen, granola bars, rice and sweets as they are provided produce from local sources.
“Other items that we don’t necessarily get from those resources, like granola bars, mac and cheese, ramen, microwavable meals, those are things that students really enjoy, that we don’t always get from our main partner. So those are always the items that I sort of like to share with students if they’re interested in donating or just through our food drive,” Whitmore said.
