Over the past year, visits and donations to the Field and Fork Pantry have nearly doubled.
The amount of weight in food distributed by the pantry, which provides donations for UF students and staff, increased by 93 percent, said Ambre Hobson, the assistant director at the Dean of Students office who supervises the pantry.
When she compared the second week of February in 2016 and February 2017, she said she found that the number of transactions at the pantry increased by 98 percent.
“As we’re open longer, more and more people are aware of who we are, where we are, what we do,” Hobson said.
In February 2016, there was a decrease in donations. Hobson said food pantries generally see a dip in January and February as the holidays end and people’s generosity wanes.
This year there hasn’t been a decrease because of student organizations and community members like Publix, Hobson said. Students make up 80 percent of the pantry’s visitors, and 20 percent are other people in need, like UF staff. Unlike when the pantry opened in August 2015, visitors now have a cap on the amount of certain items they can take each week.
Wyatt Kelch, a 21-year-old UF civil engineering junior who’s been working at the pantry since Fall 2015, said it has begun to run more smoothly. The food limits are a newer change.
“Before, it would just be whoever came at the beginning of the day would take everything,” Kelch said. “Some people who can’t come in the morning would not be able to get anything.”
Hobson said the pantry provides people with food security.
“I think the food pantry really helps ll one of those elemental needs so that, you know, a human being can focus on what they need to do in their life,” she said.
Items needed at the pantry
- Grains
- Pasta
- Rice
- Oatmeal
- Proteins
- Canned tuna
- Beans
Contact Romy Ellenbogen at rellenbogen@alligator.org and follow her on Twitter at @romyellenbogen
