On Aug. 7, Tarleton State University’s Office of Student Success and Multicultural Initiatives, the Division of Student Life, and H.O.P.E. Inc. officially introduced the Tarleton Food Pantry.

According to Feeding America’s 2014 Hunger in America report, an estimated 10 percent of its 46.5 million adult clients are currently students, including about two million people who are attending school full-time. Nearly one-third of people surveyed (30.5 percent) reported that they have had to choose between paying for food and covering educational expenses at some point in the last year.

Tarleton’s Food Pantry is not the first of its kind. Schools like Michigan State University and New York’s LaGuardia Community College have had food pantry programs in place over the past several years, along with the College and University Food Bank Alliance (CUFBA) which has members running food pantries at around 100 colleges and universities. The CUFBA looks to remove the stigma that is faced when receiving food from a food pantry. 

The Tarleton Food Pantry is located in the Barry B. Thompson Student Center, Room 103-A, next to the Information Desk. The food pantry will only be open from 1 to 6 p.m. on weekdays during its trial phase. Non-perishable, resident hall-friendly food items can be dropped off between 8 a.m. and 5 p.m. at the Information Desk and at the Office of Diversity & Inclusion on the Student Center’s lower level. Some accepted items include: peanut and almond butter, applesauce, granola, protein, cereal bars, fruit strips, popcorn, nuts and crackers, canned and microwavable soups, chili, rice and pasta, oatmeal and dry cereal, pudding cups, and packaged muffins. 

The food pantry’s goal is to make healthy, nourishing food available to students who in some cases might not have enough resources to supplement their meal plan or from their part time jobs.

Students may also make a monetary donation. Checks can be made to Tarleton State University, noting “Food Pantry” in the memo, and mailed to: Tarleton State University – Office of Diversity & Inclusion, Box T-0490, Stephenville, Texas, 76402.

For more information about the Tarleton Food Pantry, contact Dr. Lora Helvie-Mason, Director of the Office of Diversity and Inclusion, at (254)-968-9488 or by email at [email protected].