BU Wheelock Student Services to Open Community Cares Food & Essentials Pantry, Host Kick-off Event on December 4

Beginning in December, BU Wheelock’s Student Services office will open the Community Cares Food & Essentials Pantry at Two Silber Way. This pantry will be open to BU community members in need of assistance with

  • Food insecurity due to dining hall closures,
  • Food insecurity due to sudden economic or personal changes,
  • Food insecurity due to persistent financial hardship,
  • Need for hygiene products (tampons, razors, soap, lotion).

The Pantry is funded by BU Wheelock’s Equity, Diversity & Inclusion Committee and the Wellbeing Project (a campus-wide initiative of the Provost’s Office). The organizers intend for the pantry to serve as a pilot project for more robust programs of support for community members facing food insecurity.

To help kick off this effort, the Student Services Office will host “Delish for Less,” a cooking demo focused on how to make nutritious, tasty and inexpensive meals using ingredients that will be stocked in the Community Cares Food & Essentials Pantry.

“Delish for Less” will feature nutritional wellness experts from Sargent College, and recipes from the demo will be kept on-file in the pantry for future shoppers to make use of. Support for the event also comes from the Wellbeing Project.

The demo will take place on 1-2 pm on Wednesday, December 4 in the WED Lobby at Two Silber Way, and is part of the Student Services Office’s ongoing “Wheelock Wellness Wednesday” series. All BU community members are welcome to attend the event, and encouraged to RSVP to help ensure that enough samples are prepared for everyone to have a taste.

Attendees are asked to bring donations to the demo to help bolster the pantry’s opening supply stock. Pantry organizers recommend donations of non-perishable items like soup, cereal, instant oatmeal and essentials like feminine hygiene products, toothbrushes, and soap.

Looking forward, the pantry will also welcome volunteer support. Key areas of need include:

  • Inventory: keeping records of what we take in and distribute
  • Fulfilling orders: Packing bags and boxes to fill requests for assistance
  • Tabling: Work at a table in our lobby to request and receive donations in-kind (canned or boxed items)
  • Expertise: Contribute knowledge gained from prior work supporting food justice initiatives.

Anyone interested in volunteering their time and experience can reach out to BU Wheelock Student Services at whestu@bu.edu.

BU Wheelock would like to recognize the outstanding efforts of those who have proposed the creation of the Pantry and organized this kick-off event. Those community members are:

Stephanie Clendenin, Associate Director of Online Student Services, Staff Representative for the BU Wheelock Equity, Diversity & Inclusion Elected Committee

Maureen Desmond, Student Senior Services Coordinator

Paul Hastings, Director of Student Services

Valentina Varela, Graduate Assistant

 

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