Amid uncertainties surrounding Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) funding, ETSU has several initiatives and programs available to help combat food insecurity for the ETSU community.
Bucky’s Food Pantry offers food resources as well as hygiene products for students, staff, faculty, alumni and retirees.
There are three pickup locations available to provide convenience and accessibility for the people the pantry serves. The pantries are located at Buc Ridge, the D.P. Culp Student Center and the Kingsport Campus in Allandale.
Students, staff and faculty can apply for a weekly food box that comes with shelf-stable food items they choose from the available options. In addition to the weekly food box, people are able to come in twice a week for a bag of perishable items including options such as meat, produce, bread and baked goods.
“We do prefer for everyone to order online because it makes things a little easier, but right now with the situation at hand, students, staff, and faculty members are able to go directly up to the Buc Ridge pantry,” said Amy Deel, director of Bucky’s Food Pantry at the Culp site. “They will be given an application then to just fill out and choose what they want, and then those boxes will be packed according to what they’ve chosen.”
If someone is in immediate need and can’t make it to the Buc Ridge pantry to have a box packed, the Culp pantry also has emergency boxes available to ensure everyone can have access to food. They also keep some frozen items on hand if anyone is in need of an immediate meal.
ETSU’s Public Safety also has access to some of the emergency food boxes if Bucky’s Food Pantry is closed when a need arises.
Another available resource is donated meal swipes. Students with Anytime Dining Plans can donate their unused guest swipes through the GET app under “Meal Donations.” Students who need meal swipe assistance can reach out to buckyspecialist@etsu.edu or deanofstudents@etsu.edu.
There are also multiple food drives currently happening on campus. The Staff Senate has its Season of Sharing Holiday Drive to help provide Thanksgiving boxes to members of the ETSU community in need of a holiday meal.
This Saturday, there will also be a food drive at the final football game of the year. There will be donation bins at both entrances and at the tailgate where the athletic band sits. This food drive will help to stock up Bucky’s Food Pantry so they can continue providing for the ETSU community as much as possible.
For those looking to donate to the food pantry, some items they are currently in need of include ramen noodles, cooking oil, rice, pasta, spaghetti sauce, peanut butter, jelly, mixed vegetables, pinto beans and canned potatoes. They also are in need of hygiene products including body wash, shampoo, conditioner, diapers and baby wipes. A more extensive list of donatable items can be found on their website.
“In addition to that, a lot of people don’t think about it, but it’s really nice sometimes to have baked goods. So any kind of boxed baked good mix would be really nice,” Deel said. “Evaporated milk is not on our list, but with it being holiday season, a lot of people want to bake and cook things, and they might not have milk. Evaporated milk is something really nice to donate that can help them make a meal complete if they don’t have regular milk.”
For people looking to help by giving their time, they can sign up to volunteer through ETSU Serves.
Deel also encourages people who want to help to donate and volunteer with Second Harvest Food Bank to help the larger surrounding community during this time as well.
More information about Bucky’s Food Pantry, including the food request form and a list of needed items, can be found at etsu.edu/foodpantry.
