On Feb. 27, USG had its eighth meeting of the Winter Quarter, where they approved emergency funding for the DU Food Pantry. Bill 65, authored by Senator Sophie Docktor, the sustainability committee chair, resolved to approve a $12,150 emergency funds request for the Center for Sustainability’s food pantry. The Bill states that the food pantry, which has been closed since Feb. 2, has had to quadruple its food purchasing over the past year to keep up with a massive uptick in demand and is currently in a dire financial position.
Docktor said that the Center for Sustainability in the Commons reached out to USG’s sustainability committee, saying that “basically the food pantry has run out of money, and they really need help.” She stated that “a lot of people on campus depend on this, especially international students, students of color and non-male identifying students.”
Speaker Pro Tempore of the Senate, Colton Arciniaga, gave further background, stating that DU “is contributing a huge sum of money to keep the food pantry open just through this academic year.” He said, “the main costs are the traditional food purchases and the handful of student employees responsible for running the food pantry.” He then spoke to how important the money will be to the food pantry.
“A good chunk of this money is going towards making sure the food pantry can still run because they have to keep paying these employees to operate it,” Arciniaga continued. “Every penny of this is gonna get used, it’s not just going to get backfilled on their budget, they need this money to keep the lights on.”
Senator Catalina Palacios-Cisneros, chair of the Diversity Committee, provided her take on the importance of getting the food pantry back up and running.
“This makes a difference, there are some people who are going to stay here for spring break and will not have access to kitchens, they will not have access to food,” she said. She also mentioned that many students do not have cars, and it’s harder for them to walk to grocery stores when it’s colder. The bill passed unanimously.
Anyone interested in donating either food or money to the food pantry can donate at the food drives around campus or can text DUFOODPANTRY to 41444.