ETSU will increase efforts to combat food insecurity among students by expanding Bucky’s Food Pantry to the D.P. Culp Student Center and introducing the Swipe Out Hunger program.
Bucky’s Food Pantry will be opening a secondary site outside the Culp Center on the side facing J.L. Seehorn Jr. Road.
“This will be primarily a distribution site for the food that’s collected through Bucky’s Food Pantry. We will retain the Bucky’s Food Pantry Central Receiving warehouse, and that will be where most of the food is packed,” said Michelle Byrd, Dean of Students.
Students will still be able to receive their regular packages from the pantry’s original site, but they now have the convenience of the Culp Center location.
If the pantry receives an influx of items that need to be distributed quickly, they will notify students via social media.
The original site filled 33% more orders during the pandemic according to Byrd, and they expect there will be great need for their services in the coming semester.
“We also have a partnership through AmeriCorps, and that is going to provide us with an intern there to help with staffing that site, along with a student workers. So, we’re really excited,” Byrd said.
Students will also have access to the new Swipe Out Hunger Program, a national program that will be provided in partnership with Sodexo. The program allows students to donate their guest passes for the dining hall to students who are in need and should be coming sometime this fall semester.
“Our goal is that no student on campus goes hungry, and we’re getting closer to that goal all the time,” said Byrd.
If students need more assistance, they can either contact the Dean of Students office at deanofstudents@etsu.edu or call 423-439-4210, who will connect them with the Upper East Tennessee Human Development Agency. They can also contact the Second Harvest Food Bank at 423-279-0430.
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