Northwestern's Campus Cabinet Food Pantry Awarded $3,000 Grant from Swipe Out Hunger

January 27, 2023

The Swipe Out Hunger grant and other monetary and food donations will help the Northwestern Campus Cabinet food pantry to restock some of the shelves that are growing bare after an increase in the number of clients requesting food, personal hygiene items and other supplies.

Northwestern Campus Cabinet food pantry volunteers Dylan Collins, Claremore junior majoring in business administration-management; Holli Black, Halstead, Kansas, senior majoring in business administration-accounting; and Carli Seabolt, Perry junior majoring in business administration-marketing; helped at the recent Alva Change Makers’ fundraiser dinner for the pantry at the 818 Diner.

The Campus Cabinet Food Pantry at Northwestern Oklahoma State University was among 30 college food pantries in the United States awarded a $3,000 grant from Swipe Out Hunger, the leading national nonprofit working to end college student food insecurity.

The organization said it had a successful inaugural cycle of campus pantry grant distributions in the spring, so it expanded its fall grants from 17 to 30 campus pantry partners. With the increasing need for food security programs, particularly campus food pantries, these grants allow colleges to better serve their students. For a list of the grant winners visit https://www.swipehunger.org/fall22swipegrants.

Angelia Case, academic projects assistant, media specialist and coordinator of the Campus Cabinet food pantry, applied for the grant on behalf of the campus pantry and is thrilled about its selection.

“I’m so excited to know that we have organizations like Swipe Out Hunger, who are there to help our students and employees with food insecurity,” Case said. “The increase in demand for our services at the campus pantry rose quite a bit during the fall semester, and it continues to increase this spring semester. This week we had 17 clients submit a food request, which is the most we’ve had in one week since we opened in 2019. It doesn’t take long to deplete the food on the shelves with that many clients in one week, so every food or monetary donation we receive continues to help us purchase items for those who need them.”

Case said the pantry uses all donated funds to purchase non-perishable foods, personal hygiene items for both men and women, bedding and some school supplies.

“Our mission at the campus pantry is to ‘provide supplemental food and other basic necessities to alleviate food insecurity and barriers to student and employee success.’ So, we are trying to do what we can to help our students and employees who need it.

“Asking for help can be hard, so we try to tell our clients to let us help them now so that when they are able, they can pay it forward to someone else.”

Swipe Out Hunger said its grants are made possible thanks to the support of the ECMC Foundation, Kresge Foundation, The M.B. & Edna Zale Foundation, and community members who are committed to ending college student hunger.

The Campus Cabinet food pantry opened its doors on Jan. 16, 2019, and by the end of the fall 2022 semester, it has registered 169 clients. Since its opening through the end of the fall 2022 semester, the pantry has distributed more than 13,000 pounds of inventory that is free to its clients in need.

Since the pantry at the Alva campus opened, smaller pantries are now available at both the Enid and Woodward campus locations.

Case noted that nearly half – 48 percent – of Northwestern’s student population are low-income first-generation students, meaning these students are the first to go to college in their families, so the students are not only learning their way around college life but may need assistance with food as well.

And, because the number of clients is increasing and donations since the Covid years have gone down, this grant and other donations come at the perfect time.

Case said that all monetary donations to the campus pantry are tax deductible and can be sent to her attention at NWOSU, 709 Oklahoma Blvd., Alva, OK 73717 with “Campus Cabinet food pantry” in the memo. The funds will be deposited into an account with the Northwestern Foundation and Alumni Association.

“When you come from a place where something such as this pantry would have been a great benefit to you, you tend to believe in the goals and mission just a little bit more,” Case said. “We just want to help.”

More information about the Campus Cabinet food pantry and the list of foods it could use most can be found at www.nwosu.edu/campus-cabinet. To learn more about Swipe’s grant cycle and the organization in general, a newsletter signup is available at https://share.hsforms.com/1z0EjHh9GREaMAJnIL13hZQ2sdc4.

-NW-