Food giveaway marks a year of Pantry service

A Thanksgiving meal distribution on Tuesday will mark a year of service for the Maverick Food Pantry, which since opening in winter 2020 has served more than 11,000 University students and is poised to serve more. 

Kelly Meier, assistant vice president for Diversity and Inclusion (which runs the pantry along with student government and the Kearney Center for International Student Services) said the event is aimed to bridge a wider-than-usual gap that comes with holidays for many students.  

Thus, on Tuesday, 125 large meals of a half-chicken, potatoes, beans, stuffing and gravy will be distributed to students who requested them from the pantry, students who will remain at the University during the expanded weekend of the Thanksgiving holiday. The Wooden Spoon, a Mankato-based take-out and catering operation specializing in local, fresh ingredients, is preparing the meals.   

“We have reduced distribution in break times,” Meier said, “so we decided what we wanted to do was partner with Wooden Spoon and put together a really delicious home-cooked meal that would have extra food in it so there would be food for those students who are depending on it during the break.” The Minnesota State University, Mankato Foundation, MavCares Student Emergency Fund and private donors are providing funding for the meal boxes. 

Students at a previous farmers market near campus.

President Edward S. Inch will be on hand handing out the dinners, underscoring the University’s commitment to fighting food insecurities. The Maverick Food Pantry grew from that, specifically responding to studies that show two-thirds of Maverick students experience some form of food insecurity. A third of them report severe cases of it, Meier said.  

The Maverick Food Pantry operates out of Carkoski Commons in a space that expands this week. Since opening, the Pantry has been providing food for 300 students a week. With the new space, Meier said, they plan to double that to 600 per week. 

As the Pantry grew, so too did the Foundation’s ability to help.  

Over the past three years, the MavCares Student Emergency fund has grown as the result of donations from alumni and others to the point where funds are in place when needs present themselves, such as this Thanksgiving stretch and the upcoming winter break.  

Will Broussard, associate vice president of University Advancement, said that’s a switch from just a few years ago, when ideas such as Tuesday’s food distribution might have had a more scattered and time-pressed approach toward finding ways to pay for it.  

“We’ve been able to build up reserves where, when someone applies for that emergency grant, instead of having to say, ‘Could we do this and if so who should we go and solicit for it?,’ we don’t’ have to do that. We’ve been able to build up the fund where we can address those things internally and just have the Foundation support it, which is the ideal place to be.” 

The Maverick Food Pantry is working to raise additional funds to help students in need of food assistance during the semester break in December and January.

 

Meal box distribution will be held from 11:30 a.m. to 1 p.m. 

Minnesota State Mankato President Edward Inch will help distribute the meal boxes to students from 12-12:30 p.m. on Tuesday at the Maverick Food Pantry, located on campus in Room 142, Carkoski Commons (on Maywood Avenue, near the University Dining Center).

Speak Your Mind

*