Florida graduate student establishes food pantry for students

Graduate student William Solis spends his Tuesdays and Wednesdays restocking the shelves of a food pantry he started in DM for his fellow Panthers. The labor of love is a chance to put food on the table for less-fortunate students, the ones who need a helping hand when paying for tuition and books takes priority over groceries.

Solis, who serves as a graduate assistant at the Center for Leadership and Service within Student Affairs, worked with other students to establish the food pantry at MMC through the Academy of Leaders, a student leadership development program. They based their idea on the success of the pantry at BBC, and the fact that the number of food pantries in the United States is on the rise.

The pantry, which opened its doors in October 2014, is a source for non-perishable food items on campus. It runs on the honor system, meaning no one will ever ask about students’ home lives or economic situations when visiting the pantry. They need only present a Panther I.D. card and can visit once per week, taking up to 10 pounds of food each visit.

Solis said that although they do not ask students to disclose personal information, he suspects that the majority live in the residence halls on campus. Others are directed to the pantry from various departments.

Wallace, a junior majoring in math who did not wish to disclose his full name, lives in the residence halls and said he’s visited the pantry on a weekly basis this summer.

“Thank you so much to whoever had this idea,” he said. “I don’t really have a decent source of income to buy food with, so this is really good to get something to eat.”

For students who may be hesitant about using the food pantry, Wallace offered this advice: “It’s kind of easy to want to uphold a reputation and not really seem like a needy person, but truth be told, I’d much rather seem needy than seem starved to death. It’s not a bad thing at all.”

The pantry runs on donations, and because a busy day can see as many as 25 visitors,  canned and boxed foods, bottled drinks and more are accepted on a continuous basis.

“We’ve been very fortunate to get a lot of donations here,” Solis said.

The pantry’s biggest recent hauls have come from Housing and Residential Life, which collected packaged food donated by students as they vacated their dorms. The FIU Women’s Center even donated boxes of feminine products.