About 23 percent, or 3.8 million college students experienced food insecurity in 2020, according to a survey by the Government Accountability Office, and NDSU is no exception. It can be hard for a student who is balancing work with school and extracurriculars to afford food and other basic necessities, but what they might not know is that there are resources on campus that can help them in their time of need.
“When I saw this job was open I thought it would be a great opportunity to pair previous knowledge and experience to support the campus and give back,” said Halli Heimbuch, the pantry coordinator at Goods for the Herd, NDSU’s own on-campus food shelf. Heimbuch is majoring in nutrition science and has past experience with volunteer work in community nutrition, making this a great position for her to use her expertise to help others.
Located underneath the Bookstore in Memorial Union, Goods for the Herd is a room where any NDSU student, staff or faculty member who qualifies can fill up a basket from an assortment of canned and dry goods, as well as some refrigerated groceries. The service is completely confidential and volunteers receive confidentiality training according to the standards of the Great Plains Food Bank to assure users of the pantry that their information and activity is completely private. To make sure that there is enough food for everyone to get what they need, pantry users are limited to one basket per month.
Anyone can see if they qualify to visit the food pantry by going to the Goods for the Herd webpage on the NDSU website, where they will find a list of requirements and the forms necessary to register for an appointment to choose their food products. “Due to the limits of the space, we are appointment-only right now so that we can make as much as possible available for each guest,” said Heimbuch.
The pantry is stocked primarily through donations and run by a volunteer staff. The Great Plains Food Bank provides a monthly drop-off of donated food, as well as weekly deliveries from their retail rescue program, which saves still-good food from being thrown out by local grocery stores and puts it to use feeding the community.
The pantry also receives donations from Costco, and smaller donations from students and departments across campus. For example, organizations will take turns hosting food drives to stock the Little Free Pantry across from the Bookstore in Memorial Union to provide easy access to food for people who need it.
According to a survey sent out to pantry users at the end of last year, 65 percent of people who used the pantry’s services were able to worry less about having enough money for food and could redirect those funds to pay for other necessities. 74 percent of users found they were able to focus more on school-related activities.
“Hunger is real and serious on campus,” said Heimbuch. “As a grassroots organization we are always grateful for volunteers, donations and partnerships.” Anyone who is interested in giving time or donations can fill out an interest form on the Goods for the Herd webpage or email Heimbuch directly at halli.heimbuch@ndsu.edu.