Spotlight on Philanthropy

New Pantry Will Help UMB Fight Food Insecurity Among Students, Faculty, and Staff

Responding to increased food insecurity among students, a trend that has been exacerbated by the COVID-19 pandemic, the University of Baltimore (UMB) is launching a Student Food Pantry at the SMC Campus Center. The pantry, set to open this fall, is located in the newly renovated third-floor Student Affairs suites.

Thanks to generous donations from in-kind partners, the Student Food Pantry will be supplied by several Maryland businesses at the start, with many opportunities for future partnerships to form as it gets off the ground. The pantry is supplied with 1,000 16-ounce bottles of olive oil provided by Pompeian, the largest olive oil producer in the United States and headquartered in East Baltimore; 200 reusable 10-gallon grocery bags from IKEA; and a range of spices supplied by Maryland-based McCormick & Co.

“Close to 30 percent of UMB students who participated in the Fall 2020 Food Security Survey indicated that they worried their food would run out before they had money to buy more,” says Courtney Jones Carney, DPA, MBA, director of the Intercultural Center and executive director of intercultural leadership and engagement at UMB. “The scope of this need spurred our University community to respond to these challenges faced not just by students, but by faculty and staff as well.”

More than 700 campus-based pantries in the College & University Food Bank Alliance report providing food and emergency assistance to college students. According to the Hope Center’s 2018 survey of 86,000 college students, 41 percent of students at four-year institutions reported experiencing food insecurity in the past 30 days, 44 percent said they were worried about running out of food, and about half said they could not afford to eat balanced meals. Campus pantries, emergency funds, and increased education and awareness of the issues around campus are among the top recommended solutions.

The goal of UMB’s pantry is to be a place where students can access resources that will assist them through a rough patch, whether that be food, personal items, emergency funds, or a referral to other services that can better address their needs. It will work in collaboration with existing programs such as the Hungry Harvest and Baltimore Gift Economy markets at the UMB Community Engagement Center; the University of Maryland Medical Center Farmers Market; local Maryland Food Bank locations; and UMBconnect, a resource students can use to find events around campus in their area of interest and filter for ones that also provide food.

In times of need, UMB turns to our community benefactors and friends to support students through scholarships, endowments, and programmatic funding. We also need philanthropic support to invest in the well-being of our students so they can thrive academically and personally, accomplish the dreams that brought them to UMB, and go out into the world to improve the human condition and serve the public good.

To help UMB Student Affairs in this inaugural initiative designed to support the well-being of our students and employees, and to learn more about how your contribution can improve their lives, visit www.umaryland.edu/campuslife/student-support/umb-campus-food-security/.

Flat lay view at uncooked foods in carton box prepared for disaster emergency conditions or giving away
UMB’s new food pantry will provide shelf-stable food to students as well as faculty and staff if needed.
Spread the love

Kate Ostrowski

Kate Ostrowski, MPP, is the associate director, foundation operations and compliance, and board relations, in the Office of Philanthropy at the University of Maryland, Baltimore.