One of the university’s new clubs, the Student Basic Needs Coalition (SBNC), has initiated its first pop-up food pantry. The pantry will be open for six full weeks on Wednesdays from 2-4 pm. The pantry is located on the 3rd floor of the David Student Union (DSU).

The coalition and project were started by Chloe Younce, a fourth year at CNU.

During the first event, Younce planned to hand out 50 full bags of food, continuing weekly throughout March and through the beginning of April.

“These provide multiple meals for a single individual. All items are donated from the Virginia Peninsula Food Bank, as well as from the Temple Baptist church that we have collaborated on for the last couple of weeks to support the CNU community.” 

Younce was inspired to start this project when she became aware of food insecurity on campus that lacked attention from previous leadership. 

“In 2023 I created our first wave of a food insecurity survey and that got us 461 responses, which we were very excited about this semester. We’re hoping to get some more data on food insecurity on campus with the ultimate goal of establishing an on-campus food pantry that would be open to all students.”

Younce also stated that the pantry would be run by student volunteers to support everyone who might be in need. 

“Any student who even thinks they might be in need should definitely come out and see what it’s about, either to get your own bag of food or if you’re interested in helping out and volunteering,” she said. “We welcome anyone and everyone to be able to come together and try and solve this problem as a community.”

To contact the organization about the event or other initiatives email: [email protected] or [email protected]