Pack the Pantry: SC State SGA seeks donations to help students meet basic needs

Alumni to hold "Pack the Pantry" event at home football game on Sept. 12

ORANGEBURG, S.C. - Food, toiletry and hygiene products are among the essentials that South Carolina State University students can access at a growing pantry designed to meet their basic needs.

Members of the SC State Student Government Association run the Bulldog Pantry, an initiative SGA Chief of Staff Bella Joy Irving said is largely supported by donations.

"I think it is very important because not every student has everything. Some students come to college and don't have as much as someone else they may know. I think it just gives them that leeway to come in and grab something and just be able to get them by," Irving said.

"We have toiletry items, health and wellness, feminine hygiene, personal care items, food and snacks. Students come in, grab a bag, get five free items and then check out. You put your 900 number in, and we keep a data sheet of who's coming and when," she said.

Once students get up to five free items for a week, they can come back the next week as needed.

The pantry is open from 1 to 6 p.m. Monday through Friday and is in the Bulldog Den, which sits beside the Lewis Building housing the university's Department of Speech Pathology and Audiology.

Irving said the pantry exemplifies the family atmosphere at the university.

"I think the pantry is just another aspect of SC State as a family. When you need something, you go get it and you have it. It's about taking care of each other and making sure students feel welcome. That's the big thing about it," she said.

Alumni, community support keeps pantry stocked

Dr. Franklin Pressley, executive director of Student Life and Leadership at SC State, said the pantry serves to alleviate stress for a lot of students who know they have somewhere to go to get needed items.

The SC State University National Alumni Association has been instrumental in giving.

"Many of the chapters supported the pantry since it was created. They have an Amazon wish list where they order items and have them shipped here. We get that monthly and weekly, especially through the Columbia chapter," Pressley said.

"That chapter is very hands-on with the pantry, as well as some alumni who are connected to different corporations," he said.

That support will continue Saturday, Sept. 12, when the SC State University National Alumni Association holds a "Pack the Pantry" collection in conjunction with the Bulldogs' home football game against Virginia State. The face-to-face collection will be held from 5 to 6 p.m. in front of Oliver C. Dawson Stadium. Game tickets are required to enter the campus.

Needed items include:

• bath towels and washcloths
• toothpaste and toothbrushes
• body wash, deodorant and feminine hygiene products
• individual juices and snacks
• twin extra-long sheet sets
• laundry detergent pods
• toilet tissue, paper towels, and disinfectant wipes and spray

Supporters also can purchase items through the Bulldog Pantry's Amazon wish list.

Student leaders see Bulldog Pantry's impact firsthand

SGA President Austin Stephens said there are plans to expand the pantry's offerings.

"The end goal is to really just keep this going and also try to expand some of this so maybe we can offer more things like hot food items, more professional clothes, more food, just a variety of things," he said. "It's a pretty great need because all students don't have the access to go off campus. You don't get your car on campus during your freshman year.

"So you really have no choice but to be able to either rely on upperclassmen, and not all freshmen know upperclassmen. But all freshmen can come to the Bulldog Den, grab a case of water, grab some drinks out the fridge or grab some snacks," Stephens said.

SGA Vice President Alaysia Polk said working in the pantry has given her an appreciation for the service it provides, especially because she has found herself needing an item on occasion.

"Working here just feels good, just to know that we have stuff that students can come and grab. I know there were a couple of times where I didn't have something in my room, and I was like, 'Oh my goodness, I can go to the pantry,'" Polk said.

Polk said items that the pantry may have an influx of are donated to community entities such as the Samaritan House homeless shelter in Orangeburg. She said some individuals donate, for example, hygiene items that they specifically ask to be given to students.

"We call them free because they were donated to us to give to students. So we won't count that against them when they come in the pantry to come and get their five items per week," she said.

The pantry's value is also evident in the students who may struggle to obtain groceries and other necessities. SGA Speaker of the House Aaliyah Hagler said she has encountered freshmen who needed help finding a way to get groceries.

"I've run into a couple of freshmen who can't afford to pay somebody to get groceries. So I'm like, 'You can always come to the pantry,'" Hagler said.

Having the pantry is valuable because you never know individual students' circumstances, SGA Business Manager Charlie Proctor said.

"You never know what anybody's going through. Some people can't afford some necessities all the time. So you've got to always have a route of reliability with the pantry," he said.

SGA Attorney General Josiah Rayford said the pantry is also where students can connect with student leaders.

"It provides a lot of students with direct access to their class boards. This is somewhere you know someone from student government will be working. So if you have a question or somebody that you want to get in contact with, the pantry is always somewhere you can go," he said.

Polk said there is also room for volunteers at the pantry.

"It's not just student government. A lot of people have come and volunteered and got community service hours," she said.

Variety of ways to make donations

Pressley said individuals can donate snacks, food, toiletries and other items by bringing them to his office in the Kirkland W. Green Student Center. Monetary donations can be made through the SC State Foundation website at www.scstategives.org.

He said various churches in the community have been donating to the pantry for years.

"I think the best way to give donations if you're giving from somewhere else will be through Amazon," Irving said. "Just have it sent here to the school with Dr. Franklin Pressley's name on it and (specify) that it's for the Bulldog Pantry. Then we just go pick it up from the mailroom and bring it here."

For more information about the pantry or how to donate, contact Pressley by phone at 803-516-4826.