The Food Pantry Blog

Before anything else, I would like to express my deepest gratitude for the incredible surge in donations and support for the SOP, the Spartan Food Insecurity Fund, and the SAFE Fund since November 1st. The outpouring of gifts allowed the SOP to distribute the most food in any two-week period in our pantry’s history. Last week, in just four days, we distributed more than 3,000 pounds of food. That is about the weight of three Steinway grand pianos, for reference. (If you measure things in Steinway grand pianos.)

The last two weeks of SNAP news have been marked by rapid changes, shifting timelines, and constantly evolving information. After all of that back and forth, NCDSS now says that all SNAP funds for November have been loaded onto every recipient’s card. These funds will bring relief for hundreds of thousands of individuals in North Carolina.    

At the SOP, we are seeing the need created by the SNAP delays, rising food costs, and increases in household costs such as energy. Since November 4th, 70 student households have visited the SOP for the first time. I expect those numbers to continue rising in the coming weeks as the situation stabilizes. The government shutdown did put extra pressure on many families, but only 6 of the 70 new households that visited the pantry used SNAP, which implies that the news coverage on conversations about SNAP delays also helped raise overall awareness and destigmatize the use of the pantry. It also suggests that our pantry usage will not decline in the coming weeks. While 85,000 college students in North Carolina receive SNAP benefits, many more food-insecure students do not receive or qualify for these benefits. And, given that SNAP’s maximum benefit is about $6 a day, significantly less than the average cost of a meal, it creates what is known as the meal gap, even for those who do receive some SNAP assistance.

Current reports indicate that the Trump administration will be eliminating some tariffs on specific items, such as beef and coffee, to help ease the rising costs of food. At the same time, the Big Beautiful Bill Act cut more than $180 billion from the SNAP program and created new restrictions, which will likely cause millions of recipients to lose their benefits. To put that in context, every month of SNAP distributions costs approximately $8 billion to $9 billion. This deficit represents the most extensive cut in federal nutrition services in history. At the time I am writing this email, reports indicate that the current administration plans to have all 42 million SNAP recipients reapply to the program. This would be an unprecedented administrative action that would destabilize the program and cause massive delays. In North Carolina, households already have to recertify every six to twelve months, maintain evidence of work compliance, and regularly submit these documents. Unfortunately, for many households, this may be our new normal, with even more Spartans struggling to afford to eat each month.

Across the school, Staff Senate, Faculty Senate, Parking Services, the Division of Student Affairs, and many other areas have delivered hundreds of pounds of food to the pantry. Area churches have also shown incredible generosity. Second Harvest Food Bank of Northwestern NC and WFMY News donated more than 1,800 pounds of food to the SOP from their drive, and WFMY News 2 featured the SOP twice on air, bringing much-needed awareness. North Carolina Health News also published a story focusing on college hunger that included information about the SOP. Dining Services has been an incredible support, providing hot meals at some of our Thursday Family Dinners and playing an essential role in our Hunger and Homelessness Awareness Week. 

This week, Wesley-Luther is working with community organizations and departments across campus to have Hunger and Homelessness Awareness Week. This is just one small part of a nationwide campaigninvolving thousands of organizations that focus on hunger and homelessness. Events will take place throughout the week, providing education, raising awareness, and generating funds and food donations, among other activities. The week will conclude with our annual Meal of Thanksgiving, where we will celebrate with a dinner for 200 Spartans. 

So many parts of our Spartan family have responded in this time of need, but the reopening of the government will be only a partial reprieve. The SOP will not only continue to distribute this semester, but we are open year-round and will continue to support students over the winter break. We will continue to work to ensure that no Spartan goes hungry and that we graduate new generations of impassioned leaders who will work to end hunger in all our communities.

We can do this.

Andrew Mails-Saine
Executive Director
Wesley-Luther | Spartan Open Pantry.