Commuter Pantry Provides Meal Options For Students In Need
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The Commuter Student Life office is continuing its efforts to meet the daily needs of students through the Commuter Food Pantry, providing meal options for financially struggling students.
This initiative, five years in the making, is a collaboration of Parkview Community Mission, LU Send and Liberty University’s Student Health and Wellness Department directed by Ted Whitney, executive director of Commuter Student Life.
The transformed storage closet is now a place of hospitality and care, seen through the Bible verse on the pantry walls. The words from Proverbs 3:5-6 displayed on the walls are “Trust in the Lord with all your heart and lean not on your own understanding; in all your ways submit to Him and He will make your paths straight.”
“As you can imagine, hunger is a distraction,” Whitney explains. “We are using the pantry to help commuters who are struggling in this area.”
To maintain privacy for these students, scheduled time slots allow these commuters to visit the pantry in confidentiality.
The Commuter Student Life Office accepts donations of non-perishable goods including “Maruchan Yakisoba meals, Rice a Roni Instant Chicken meals, Minute Ready-to-Serve Brown and Wild Rice cups, and Kraft Easy Mac single-serving cups,” as well as personal daily essential hygiene items, according to the Commuter Food Pantry website.
An Open House for the Commuter Food Pantry will be on Tuesday, March 30 from 11 a.m. to 3 p.m. in the Green Hall Commuter Student Life Office,
room 1887.
“Commuters, faculty, and staff are welcome to attend to see where this is located, how we operate, and ask any questions,” Whitney said. “For this cohort, who may not go to class today if they do not have a meal, it is our job to work really hard to help them persist and graduate.”
Sherith Gutzmer, associate director and current manager of the Commuter Food Pantry, explained his desire to show students that the faculty is looking to help them through this initiative, emphasizing that the office values students trusting them during a vulnerable time.
“We just want you to come in, grab what you need, and to do life well,” Gutzmer said. “At the end of the day, I just want to see (students) succeed, even in this small act, that is our goal.”
This service is offered to all Liberty University off campus students including commuters, graduate students, and online students. The Commuter Food Pantry is in Green Hall room 1887, inside the Commuter Student Life Office, and is open on Monday through Friday from 8:30 a.m. to 4:30 p.m.
To visit, students must make a reservation at liberty.edu/students/off-campus/commuter/food-pantry/ due to COVID regulations and personal privacy. To drop off food and daily essential donations and for more information, contact the Commuter Student Life Office at commuters@liberty.edu.
Kaitlyn Nyhan is a News Reporter.