Boxer Food Share makes that all students have access to meals
For many, Thanksgiving is a day to gather with family and eat copious amounts of great food. But for many others, Thanksgiving is a sobering reminder of the food insecurity and economic hardship they face. According to an annual report by Oregon State, one out of 10 persons in the state face food insecurity, which is the chronic lack of access to food daily. Many college students experience this, but Pacific University has a program working to counter food insecurity, the Boxer Food Share.
The Pacific Index met with Director of Applied & Experiential Learning Stephanie Stokamer, the manager of Boxer Food Share; Jonathon Salisbury, the student manager of Boxer Food Share; and Ethan Taywater, the student lead at Boxer Food Share to learn more about how the Boxer Food Share inception, current state, and goals for the future.
Stokamer explained that the formation of the Boxer Food Share program was the result of student advocacy and research. In 2015, a Pacific student investigated food insecurity among Pacific students for their senior capstone project. This project shed light on the fact that many Pacific students were experiencing food insecurity. With these findings, a couple of students developed a proposal for a food pantry that they submitted to the administration. The proposal was accepted and the Boxer Food Share was born. Between 2017 and 2021, Michelle Larkins was director of the Center for Sustainability and was the manager of Boxer Food Share. “She helped us to think about how to be more sustainable, how to be more accessible, and how to meet the nutritional and dietary needs of students,” Stokamer recalled.
Already this semester, the Boxer Food Share has distributed 700 items, an indication of the scope of food insecurity on campus. “We have every major category of food, similar to what you would find in a grocery store,” said Salisbury. The Boxer Food Share is a 24 hour, 7 days a week food bank for students, faculty, and staff at Pacific University, and in addition to supplying food, the Boxer Food Share has two practicum students who hold office hours each week to help students who need assistance signing up for federal food programs like SNAP or Double Up Food Bucks.
“In the spring,” continued Salisbury, “we will be partnering with a distributor, Oregon Food Bank. . . this means quality food in great quantities. Plus, [the partnership] will open the doors to accessibility to foods that adhere to dietary restrictions.”
With greater access to food supply, the Boxer Food Share hopes to grow its presence on campus. A couple new services will be introduced in the spring. One new service is catering for events on campus— all that is asked in return is a few hours of volunteering. Eligible events could include friend group movie nights, sorority events, faculty events, and more. The Boxer Food Share also plans on helping provide food to students such as athletes and choir/band/orchestra students who miss meal times due to extracurricular activities.
“We want everyone to feel like they can and want to utilize the Boxer Food Share,” Stokamer noted. “Over the summer, Boxer Food Share received a very generous donation from a Board of Trustees member; this donation has allowed us to think creatively about the possibilities of the Boxer Food Share moving forward.”
The new services and changes to the Boxer Food Share will come to fruition this spring. The Boxer Food Share will likely be moving to a new location on campus with more space and access to better facilities. One possible location is the garage located in the Boxer Gardens. — Annette Leschensky
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