The LSU African American Cultural Center is hosting its 2022 Martin Luther King Food Drive and is inviting students, faculty, and campus organizations to donate.
The AACC Center is accepting donations until Monday, and the campus organization that donates the most food will win the Food Drive Award.
Donations will go to the LSU Food Pantry, which assists financially insecure students with getting the food and nourishment they need. Items needed include snack foods, candy, drinks, seasonings, pasta, granola bars, and cooking supplies.
Some campus organizations participating in the food drive include the Latin American Student Organization Collective and the Office of Civil Rights and Title IX.
Jennie Stewart, American Disabilities Act Coordinator for the Office of Civil Rights and Title IX, says the idea of a campus food pantry started 10 years ago when she was working in the Office of the Dean of Students and the Office of Student Advocacy and Accountability, where she met a representative from Florida State University who mentioned the food pantry they had on their campus.
“That would be a dream for LSU,” Stewart said. “[LSU] could never do that. The representative told me that the food pantry was just a bookshelf with a file cabinet in a closet. I said, ‘That we could do.’”
With the support of former LSU Dean Casey White, and former associate dean of students Matt Gregory, a proposal was made, and the LSU Food Pantry became a reality.
“It started in a filing room with some scrap bookcases from surplus,” Stewart said. “People just started donating. The Food Pantry grew beyond what it occupied. I and others were just checking Tiger Cards to make sure people were students. We saved Walmart bags for students to use. The food pantry was homegrown.”
Since its beginning, the LSU Food Pantry has continually expanded with help from partnerships and donations from people in the LSU community.
“We then realized that the need was growing, donations were growing, partnerships needed to grow. It was transferred over from the Office of the Dean of Students to the Department of Campus Life,” Stewart said.
The LSU Food Pantry gives out around 1000 pounds of food per day and provides many benefits for students.
“Some students’ ability to concentrate decreases when [they are] food insecure,” Stewart said. “Some students are waiting for a financial aid check or are victims of natural disaster, to which they become food insecure. The food pantry’s purpose was not just to make people smile and be happy. It was more so of meeting a very basic need.”
Interdisciplinary Studies senior, Cornel Sims Jr., is helping with the food drive and is grateful for any support offered to the event.
“People who are just down on their luck are benefiting from this food drive,” Sims said. “Some students have been affected during this pandemic. These people may need some food donations to lift their spirits up.”
Sims said he has been in a situation where he didn’t have items he needed and that a helping hand goes a long way.
Although the food drive is held during Black History Month, Sims encourages organizations and students of all backgrounds to donate food.
“It doesn’t matter what race or ethnicity you are, just give,” Sims said. “We want to have the Martin Luther King spirit, giving back to people just as he did.”
International Management freshman, Emily Demps, volunteers with the LSU Food Pantry. She assists with civic engagement, youth disconnect and food insecurity within the Food Pantry.
Demps encourages all students, food-insecure or not, to take advantage of what the pantry has to offer. Faculty and staff are also welcomed to use the pantry.
“The LSU Food Pantry is a good resource for individuals on campus,” Demps said. “When you hear the words ‘food pantry,’ you think someone is struggling financially. However, in college, we are all struggling financially. Students, faculty, and staff can come into the pantry and pick out whatever they want without having a financial burden.”
“People who come in are always grateful,” Demps said. “When volunteers bring pizza, it puts a smile on people’s faces. The students that are dependent on the food pantry for weekly nourishment are the most impacted.”
LSU Food Pantry sits Wednesday, Feb. 16, 2022, on the first floor of the Student Union on 310 Student Union in Baton Rouge, LA.
