One of Elizabethtown College’s most unique on-campus offerings is the Blue Jay Pantry. Open 24 hours a day, seven days a week to all students, regardless of background or need, the pantry contains food and hygienic supplies with weekly restocks.
Even over breaks, students staying on campus don’t need to go hungry, as the Center for Civic and Community Engagement’s (CCCE) project has been a rousing success since its inception.
Thanks to the office’s efforts, Etown has once again been declared a Hunger-Free Campus by the Pennsylvania Department of Education.
The school originally received the distinction in 2023, but it needs renewal after two years.
Many criteria are necessary to receive this status, including directly connecting students to food options such as an on-campus food pantry, assembling a task force that meets on a regular basis to address basic needs, and collecting and reporting data to the campus community and/or state on student food insecurity.
The Blue Jay Pantry opened in 2019 under the direction of Javita Thompson, the CCCE’s director.
“We have to put in grant applications each time we go through the state department, and our pantry coordinator, Ariea O’Krepka, handles that work,” Thompson said.“We are then notified that the grant application has been approved. This unlocks funds for us to use for the pantry.”
Thompson went on to explain the history of the pantry and how its grown.
“The pantry was started in 2019 as an initiative from our former college president, so food insecure students could acquire what they needed,” Thompson said. “I pushed to expand, so we eventually acquired a refrigerator so we could offer fresh produce. We also now offer hygiene and menstrual products.”
Thompson is always trying to grow the pantry, and her wish would be to have a bigger room for its offerings. Due to the 24/7 availability of the pantry, she says it must be confined to the Baugher Student Center (BSC) for now.
CCCE employs multiple student assistants to oversee the pantry and its restocks. This includes Schumy Pascal, a junior public health major with a minor in technical design. She is in charge of pantry pickups and weekly restocks. In an interview, she walked “The Etownian” through the process.
“A restock day is usually busy, and it can take up to three hours. This includes driving to the food bank and back, and unloading the van,” Pascal said. “The job has opened my eyes to student hunger in colleges, and how they can benefit from something like the pantry that the school is providing. I am happy that I am able to help that cause and in some ways it connects to what I want to do after college, just on a more global scale.”.
Approximately one-third of college students in the U.S. are estimated to be food insecure, which is why the Pennsylvania Department of Education started the Hunger-Free Campus initiative in 2022. This means Etown has been addressing the needs of its students since before state incentive was introduced.
“It’s an honor to be recognized once again as a Hunger-Free campus, and with this renewed recognition we will continue efforts to expand the Blue Jay Pantry, which receives more than 800 visits per academic year and has become a great resource for residential and commuter students,” Thompson said.
If students are interested in helping out with the CCCE, they can check their newsletter, which updates on service opportunities both off and on campus throughout the semester.
