Scouter Helps Feed a Campus

By Catherine Hoffman Kaser

On a warm September Saturday in North Carolina, Scouts from six different units in the Hornet’s Nest District (Mecklenburg County Council) partnered with 14 alumni of the University of North Carolina at Charlotte, to collect 1,001 pounds of food and non-food donations, plus $200 in grocery gift cards, for the campus’s Jamil Niner Student Pantry.

Scouter and UNC Charlotte alumnus David McKenzie heads up the annual Scouting Food Drive to benefit the student pantry. This year, youth from a Cub Scouting pack, four Scouts BSA troops, and a Venturing crew gathered donations, including items from an Amazon wish list, and delivered them in person. Stocking the shelves with student essentials in September helps ensure they stay that way for the rest of the semester.

Food insecurity is a significant issue on college and university campuses across the country, affecting more than 4 million students in higher education.¹  Many students discover that the resources they need to fund their education leave little left for food and essential household items. When their basic needs are not well met, students find it difficult to focus on their work and make the most of their opportunities. More than 800 campuses nationwide now offer food pantries to provide students regular access to these necessities so they can excel in their studies.

“The idea for this event came after serving on the UNC Charlotte Belk College of Business Alumni Council, where we had the pantry director come speak to us,” recounts McKenzie, a member of the Hornet’s Nest district committee and Scouting For Food coordinator in Mecklenburg County Council. “I didn’t even know the university had a student food pantry.”

“I later inquired with the pantry director about their source of food donations and asked if they were interested in some food donations from local Scouting units near the university campus. The answer was, ‘Absolutely!’, so I started the phone calls to gather interest, and units quickly came on board to participate.” Now in its fifth year, this Scouting and alumni effort has collected a total of 6,879 pounds of food and non-food donations for the Jamil Niner Student Pantry.

Would your unit or Scouting affinity group like to support a food pantry on a campus near you? Visit https://www.swipehunger.org/campus-partners/ to find one. It’s a great way to live the Scout Oath and Scout Law and share Scouting’s impact—on Scouts as well as on our communities—as we continue to help other people at all times.