By Madison Heun, Alexis Beck, Jade Henschel, & Angela White
A student organization dedicated to providing essentials to members of UWGB.
Located in Rose Hall, students, faculty, and staff can find the Campus Cupboard filled with any necessities they may need. This organization started in 2016 as a resource for LGBTQ+ students who needed food due to homelessness from family disownment. It began as a few shelves in the Grill, but it became apparent that many other UWGB students needed food. It grew into a larger project known as the Campus Cupboard.
Stacie Christian, the faculty advisor of the Campus Cupboard, shared, “I became the faculty advisor when the Campus Cupboard organization was created. We created it so we could request funds from SUFAC to assist with the cost of the food and meet the students’ increasing needs.” SUFAC, or the Student University Fee Allocation Committee, is a Student Government organization responsible for distributing funds to various student organizations.
The Campus Cupboard leaders recognize the need for essential items and the difficulty to obtain them at times. Because of this, it offers canned, refrigerated, and frozen foods with options for many dietary needs. Also, it provides the cleaning and personal hygiene items, household essentials, clothing, and school supplies.
For Stacie Christian, the essential aspect of her involvement has been “to ensure that our students have food, so they do not have to worry about not eating. This helps them not to have to get to community food pantries, which takes time away from their academics and sometimes their employment. It ensures that people are eating and not skipping meals.” Along with Stacie Christian, students help to run the organization as well.
Emily Bernhardt, a current junior at UWGB, is co-chair of Campus Cupboard. She began her involvement this spring as a part of her Service-Learning Project after hearing about the organization. She shared that, “This is an excellent resource for people in need because it’s free, but we also don’t ask for any proof of needs.” The Campus Cupboard does not require this to ensure that everyone in need feels welcomed.
The Campus Cupboard can be accessed by all members of the UWGB community who live on or off-campus by swiping a UWGB ID from 10:00 AM to 6:00 PM, Monday through Friday. Students who help run the organization are sometimes there to assist if needed. The Campus Cupboard accepts food, clothing, personal items, and other donations only by appointment due to COVID-19. A complete list of acceptable items can be found online at www.uwgb.edu/cupboard/. Also, there is information on requesting food, donating items, and asking about volunteer opportunities.
Shelves located in the Campus Cupboard stocked with nonperishable food items for students in need.
Photos courtesy of the Campus Cupboard Facebook.