20 Dec The Pantry Holiday Food Boxes Support CSUF Students Over the Break
With the holidays underway, many students at Cal State Fullerton find themselves making treks back home. Whether that’s 30 minutes away, another part of California, out of state or out of the country, the campus, once bustling with the busyness of finals and end-of-year celebrations, comes to a quiet halt. Even so, many resources on campus continue to function to advocate for the few who are physically on campus and in need of resources.
The Pantry at Associated Students Inc. (ASI), located in the Titan Student Union took part in the meaningful endeavor of packaging and giving away Holiday Food Boxes to Food Pantry patrons.
ASI staff members volunteering Friday morning, Dec.20, to pack Holiday Food Boxes. / Credit: Michael Fratino
The Pantry, open from 11 a.m. to 7 p.m. throughout the week, functions to increase food security for students on campus with a visit to the Pantry once a week to gather groceries. While over 5,000 CSUF patrons use this resource regularly, food insecurity raises worry again during campus closures and breaks. The students, who once found security and consistency in gathering their weekly groceries on campus, are now faced with uncertainties about whether they will have the same resources from Dec.23-Jan. 1 when the campus is closed.
Filling the Gap
Food Pantry patrons line up outside of ASI tent during Sring Pop-Up Pantry event. / Credit: ASICSUF Flickr
“This is our first time providing the Holiday Food Box program. We were inspired to provide the boxes to the patrons due to us acknowledging that many students rely on The Pantry for food,” shared Talia Rodriguez, ASI Food Pantry Coordinator. “Since we’ll be closed, we want to ensure that students will have food items available during this time.”
The Holiday Food Boxes consist of goods such as pasta, canned corn, juice, chicken, Takis, vanilla cake, almond milk and potatoes, to name a few; with options for both vegetarian and meat boxes. The 200 boxes packaged and given away to patrons were decided based on a mass email sent to patrons with a Google Form, where patrons could fill out an interest form.
“Due to high interest for our boxes, we reached capacity 1 hour and 45 minutes into having our form open,” Rodriguez said.
A Community Effort
ASI Staff member, Mike Greenlee, lifting and packing boxes for the Holiday Food Box outreach. / Credit: Michael Fratino
On Dec.20, ASI staff far and wide from Marketing and Finance to Corporate Affairs and Building Engineering, helped pack these boxes together.
ASI aims to combat food insecurity while raising awareness of the Pantry across CSUF with the Holiday Food Boxes serving as a way to be both impactful and essential to building a thriving community on campus — one where no student should have to worry about hunger.