“I would not have had lunch today without this great service,” is scripted on the sign-up sheet next to West Virginia University’s recently started food bank.

Below that comment, another one reads “thanks for helping poor students on campus.”

Since “The Rack” was started in late August, the food bank – located in the Student Organizations Services wing of the Mountainlair – has had to be refilled weekly to accommodate the need, said Jacqueline Dooley, program coordinator at WVU’s Student Organizations Services.

“This is really proof of the tremendous need for something like this on our campus,” Dooley said. “I am happy that we are able to offer these students something, but now we need to start thinking about other ways to help them.”

“The Rack” operates on a purely anonymous basis; students are instructed to write down their first names when they take food to help the University better track the need. Approximately 30 students have signed the sheet in the month the service has been offered.

At “The Rack,” students can obtain canned and boxed foods, including macaroni and cheese, noodles, applesauce, oatmeal, tuna fish and rice, among other things. Everything is ready to eat or can be prepared with minimal ingredients, such as water and milk. Students are able to take as much as they need, but are asked to be respectful of others.

Donations of baby food, formula, protein snacks, protein food products, canned beans, vegetables, fruit, soup and peanut butter are also needed.

In addition to “The Rack,” Dooley would like to see food banks started on both the Evansdale and Health Sciences campuses. Any student organizations or other groups interested in operating such programs are asked to contact Dooley at the Student Organizations Services office at 304-293-4397 or Jaqueline.Dooley@mail.wvu.edu.

“We are moving upward and onward with this service,” Dooley said. “Students are asking how they can become involved and we are working with them.”

Recently, a senior nutrition student began working with the food bank’s organizers. She is helping to ensure that healthy and nutritional foods are available.

All across campus people are helping out.

Greek organizations, Mountaineer Parents Club chapters, administrative staff, the Faculty Senate, student organizations and others are collecting food items.

Students from the Greek organizations on campus will be coming together to run a campus-wide food drive for “The Rack” during Homecoming Week, said Ashley Staggers, student program director for Panhellenic and WVU sororities.

“That is just one example of how the University community is supporting this endeavor,” Staggers said.

Donations for “The Rack” are always needed, Dooley said. Anyone interested in donating items can contact Dooley at 304-293-4397.

The food bank has also received national attention. Staff members from universities in North Carolina and Texas have contacted WVU asking how they too can start a food bank.

“The fact that these other schools are interested in starting food banks of their own shows that we are addressing a problem that impacts students across the country,” Dooley said.

-WVU-

cd/10/05/10

CONTACTS: Jacqueline Dooley, Student Organizations Services
304-293-4397, Jacqueline.Dooley@mail.wvu.edu

Ashley Staggers, Student Organizations Program Advisor
304-293-8201, Ashley.Staggers@mail.wvu.edu