凯瑟琳的橱柜 Expands to Meet Community Needs
劳伦·扬瑟(Lauren Yancer) 21年著
市场营销专业
Food insecurity is a growing concern nationwide, especially on college campuses. In fact, according to a Fall 2020 GMercyU campus survey, 36.4% of the sample population expressed concerns regarding food and/or housing insecurity.
In true Mercy fashion, 凯瑟琳的橱柜 aims to combat the issue head-on.
成立于2016年, 凯瑟琳的橱柜 is GMercyU's own food pantry, now located at Tabor House on the Gwynedd Valley campus. It started out as a small initiative with shelves of non-perishable food items in the back of 访问ation House. 现在, 凯瑟琳的橱柜 is serving as a model program for how college campuses can meet the needs of their students.
"凯瑟琳的橱柜 is a direct expression of GMercyU's identity as a Catholic university rooted in the tradition of the Sisters of Mercy. It 'makes mercy real' not only by providing students with basic needs such as food, 家居用品, and connections to other social organizations in the area, but also by listening to students as they share their needs with us. I am proud of how the Cupboard has expanded and am hopeful that our community sees the work that it does as a vital and integral part of our campus life,杰夫·华莱士说, Director of 校园 Ministry.
Engaging with the Community
凯瑟琳的橱柜 isn't just helping the GMercyU community, it is collaborating with other organizations across Montgomery County as a core member of the College 学生 Basic Needs Consortium (CBSN). Manna on Main Street is the main partner in operations of 凯瑟琳的橱柜. GMercyU partnered with them to enable students to be enrolled as Manna clientele regardless of living outside of the normal boundaries.
健康花园, a non-profit organization founded by GMercyU alumna Carol Bauer '93, is another partner of 凯瑟琳的橱柜. At the end of summer 2021, 健康花园 provided fresh produce to 凯瑟琳的橱柜 and has been supplying more products that are organic, non-allergenic, contain lower sodium and sugar, 不含谷蛋白. Another organization called Lasagna Love provides homemade lasagnas to 凯瑟琳的橱柜 for students to take home to their families.
In addition to food items, 凯瑟琳的橱柜 offers students toiletry and household items, including diapers and sanitary pads donated by Mitzvah Circle.
展望未来
2022年1月, 凯瑟琳的橱柜 and the CSBN consortium hope to launch their expansion pilot program which will serve as a model for other college campuses. The consortium recently received several grants from local foundations to help kickstart the pilot.
Assistant Director of 校园 Ministry for Community 服务 Betsy Stone Plummer has been leading the project and has been working with other departments on campus to offer a variety of internship opportunities for GMercyU students. Interns' roles will vary depending on their areas of study.
到2022年夏天, the CSBN consortium hopes to gain two full-time volunteers from AmeriCorps VISTA and Mercy Volunteer Corps. In collaboration with Montgomery County Community College, one volunteer will work on their campus and the other will work on GMercyU's Gwynedd Valley campus.
With more volunteers and interns, 凯瑟琳的橱柜's reach will be able to grow exponentially. One of the goals of the pilot launch is to develop a community within the 凯瑟琳的橱柜 clientele. Another is to create a website with a resource center for college students in the Montgomery County community. Another goal they're striving to reach is to create more affordable housing options for GMercyU and Montgomery County Community College students. 最后, 凯瑟琳的橱柜 wishes to create a more sustainable and systemic way to distribute goods and combat food and basic needs insecurity among college students.
"Our ultimate goal is to create sort of a model for that kind of collaboration for other institutions and their communities,普卢默说.
If you or someone you know is experiencing food insecurity or you would like to help with 凯瑟琳的橱柜's initiatives, please reach out via email to catherinescupboard@salamzone.com.
This article originally appeared in GMercyU's latest President's Report.