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Creating a Food Pantry for College Students

In John 21, Jesus has an encounter with Peter and asks him three different times if Peter loves him. Each time Peter responded, Jesus said, “Feed my sheep.”

We all know someone who is hungry. In the United States, millions of Americans go to bed hungry each day. But one group that we might forget about that are dealing with hunger issues are college students.

Reports say at least 30% of college students or one out of every five are food insecure. Hunger is a big problem for many college students in four year or community colleges and universities. One way to help is to begin a food pantry for college students in your church or in your community. Here are five things to help you start a food pantry for college students:

  • Go to a site like https://cufba.org/ OR https://www.affordablecollegesonline.org/ and find more resources on the issues facing college students. On CUFBA you can even look to see if there is a food pantry near/on your local college or university.
  • Talk to campus ministries like your local UKirk to see if they have students with food insecurities and if they have ways of helping them.
  • Check out this news article from NBC on the fight against college students food insecurity https://www.nbcnews.com/news/us-news/hunger-campus-fight-against-student-food-insecurity-n1063291
  • After doing a little research about what is available in your community see if this might be something your church could either partner with another group or start a pantry at your church. Think about what type of pantry you would like to start like non-perishable or perishables, local produce, etc. Set a budget, location, and how you want to advertise.
  • Seek funding through congregational donations, church fundraisers, and local or state-funded grants.
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