Little Pantries Come to Lake Erie College Campus

November 05, 2021 4:00 AM

Thanks to the efforts of several Lake Erie College education students, there are now three Little Pantries on campus. The pantries, located near the residence halls, outside of the Garfield Center and in the basement of the library were installed by the EDE 308 Family and Community students as part of the course.

As part of the EDE 308 class, the students study the needs of the community through a survey, and then implement a project to help address these needs. The survey results revealed additional food needs on the LEC college campus. Students in the class raised money to create the Little Pantries for the LEC campus. The group’s goal was to create three pantries. They initially raised enough money for two, using the remainder of the money for shipping and posts for the two that were purchased. The outdoor pantries are made of recyclable plastic and came highly recommended as a purchase by the Dean of the College of Education- Dr. Katharine Delavan. The indoor pantry is in the basement of the library and was designed by Director of the Lincoln Library, Jeanna Purses. She has repurposed a used bookshelf space to store food and other essential items that are too large to put in the Little Pantries.

The purpose of the Little Pantries is to provide a place for students to find necessary items when they are low on personal funds during the academic year. The boxes are also stocked with quick and easy food items to be used at any time. “We hope that through our efforts installing the pantries that no student goes hungry or without essentials,” said Professor of Early Childhood Education, Hannah Fairbanks. The class was taught by Fairbanks, while other staff members including Purses, and Annalise Gatautis, Coordinator of Academic and Co-Curricular Engagement, assist with the stocking of the Pantries. The LEC Maintenance Department did the installation of the Pantries prior to school opening in the Fall. The student project heads were: Annabella Frato and Holly Poore. Other students in the class were Nicholas Askin, Alexandria Becerra, Megan Cornell, Jacob Donahue, Angela Fink, Annabella Frato, Daisy Jacob, Amber Coubeck, Jordan Long, Jasmine Marquez, Abigail Matalavage, Kaylin Mertens, Emily Pachinger, Holly Poore, Madison Shires, Mackenzie Sundquist, and Gabriela Torres. LEC is also very fortunate to have Annie Kline from the “Little Annie’s Hope Train” project assisting in the weekly stocking of these boxes. Meredith Everett and Tracy Stanek from the “End 68 Hours of Hunger” program were instrumental in the initial stocking of the pantry shelves in the library. Both of these organizations recognize the importance of addressing food insecurities as a concern even on the LEC College Campus. Even with all the resources available, help is still wanted to provide the items necessary to stock these food pantries. Donations are accepted for the pantries in a box outside of Garfield Center room A3. Food items should be easy to cook, safe to store and not expired.

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