By CARTER PHILLIPS/Contributor
The Patriot Pantry is UT Tyler’s donor-supported food pantry. An email was sent out earlier this semester asking for donations.
Assistant Director of Campus Activities Maddie Bailey said the pantry needs donations of toiletries and canned and packaged non-perishable food.
“The Patriot Pantry is 100% free to visitors, and it is funded completely from donations. No student or faculty/staff fees go towards the pantry,” Bailey said in the email. “Our usage continues to increase every year which means that donations are crucial to sustaining the pantry.”
When visiting the pantry, located outside the library’s main doors, visitors can enter, grab the items they need, scan a QR code, and leave.
“You can see 20 visitors on a busy day and around 10 on an average day,” Cade Gleason, a staff member working at the food pantry, said.
Gleason supports visitors and helps make them feel welcome. Visitors may feel embarrassed about using the pantry, but there are actions put in place to relieve these worries.
“We do not have any qualifications to use the pantry, so students of all socioeconomic statuses use the pantry which helps eliminate some of the stigma,” Bailey said. “We keep all visitors confidential and do not release any information about visitors’ names or needs. Our goal is to make sure that no student goes to class hungry regardless of their economic status.”
Last school year, the pantry served over 400 visitors, Bailey said in the email
“This includes over 100 new visitors,” she said. “We have heard firsthand from numerous students how impactful this resource is to their experience at UT Tyler.”
She believes the demand for pantry items will be greater this year.
“In the upcoming months, we are also working on growing the pantry’s outreach and programming to support the health of our students,” the email said.
Donations can be dropped off at the Student Engagement office on the third floor of the University Center, from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. Monday to Friday.
