In 2012, East Tennessee State University opened its pantry resource Bucky’s Food Pantry to aid students, staff and community members in need. A little over a decade later, they continue to give back by providing weekly food boxes, ingredients and drinks to diminish food insecurity within the ETSU community. Also carrying hygiene products and other miscellaneous items, they work to satisfy all grounds for the public.
Bucky’s Food Pantry was opened due to an initiative by the Department of Social Work and the Counseling Center. The Food Pantry Advisory Committee behind the pantry consisted of the SGA, Staff Senate and Faculty Senate, with the Chair Director of ETSU Counseling Dan Brow, Chair of Social Work Mike Smith, and at the time graduate student of the Social Work Department David Shields. The committee was formed in 2011 and would open the pantry to the ETSU public in a year.
Charles Patton is the chair of the Food Pantry Advisory Committee. Patton oversees the pantry’s progress whereas the pantry itself is student-run by Federal Work Study and APS students. However, it differs in its different locations in Buc Ridge and the Culp Center.
“We are here for students, staff, faculty, alumni and retirees,” Patton said. “We will help the entire ETSU community.”
What led Shields to think of the creation of this resource was that he along with the Counseling Center were finding students living in their vehicles. They also found that student visitors of counseling were admitting to not have eaten in the past 2 or 3 days. After learning this, the committee was formed to get input from ETSU on how they would take action.
Unlike other pantries, Bucky’s Food Pantry is not part of the USDA and does not require a requirement of measured need by a number of family members. Helping all who call for aid with food insecurity, their application is simple and discreet. In October, they built 139 boxes and helped 305 individuals. For September, it was 151 boxes and 304 individuals.
“At the very beginning of the setup of the pantry, one of our guiding principles was that we wanted people to use the pantry and not worry about being embarrassed,” Patton said.
With boundless charity, Bucky’s Food Pantry also aids the Johnson City community outside the university with a one-time box that will last around two weeks worth of food. They also give them a resource packet that lists other pantries within the five-county area.
Looking forward, the Food Advisory Committee hopes to have its independent building where it can continue to distribute needs along with an addition of a thrift store, an idea developed by Erica Malpass, who worked at Facility and Maintenance but has since left.
For more information on Bucky’s Food Pantry and how to get involved, visit https://www.etsu.edu/foodpantry/.
