The Bear Pantry provides perishable and nonperishable foods, hygiene products and connections to additional resources members might need.
“Peanut butter, milk, eggs, those are all things we are always asked from our members,” said Alex Johnson, director of the Center for Community Engagement at Missouri State University.
Johnson says those are some of the hot-ticket items at the Bear Pantry.
Anyone who has an active Bear Pass can use the pantry by filling out a membership form for demographic information so coordinators can serve patrons best. Johnson says anyone is eligible.
“The Bear Pantry is a no-questions-asked resource in that we don’t have any qualifiers for people to utilize the pantry,” said Johnson.
According to Feeding America, students who experience hunger are more likely to have a lower grade-point average than students who don’t have to worry about having enough food.
With 39% of undergraduate students being low-income and the average college meal plan costing about $4,500 per year or $18.75 per day, this means millions of college students are at risk of facing hunger. Johnson says any donation helps.
“One dollar can go a really long way for the Bear Pantry,” Johnson said. “We work a lot with our nonprofit partners in Springfield to acquire foods so all of those are really important ways for people to give and we really value them equally.”
Besides monetary donations, students and community members can also give their time as volunteers and give in-kind donations from their own pantry.
A comprehensive list of needed items can be found on their website as well as information on how to get involved or utilize the pantry.
The Bear Pantry is in the Plaster Student Union, room 140, and is open from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. Monday through Friday.