Panther Pantry

In the Spring of 2018, a food insecurities task force was created to determine the need of our students and the extent of insecurity on our campus for food and necessary items.

Based on the task force's findings that 16% of students surveyed had food insecurity, a recommendation was made to establish a food and necessity pantry on campus.

The pantry is a recognized student organization that is operated by a student executive board and student volunteers. Its operation is run out of the Office of Student Involvement in Maucker Union and is fully funded through donations.

The Purpose

The purpose of the Panther Pantry is to ensure that UNI students are able to get their basic food and necessity needs met. We recognize that in order to succeed in the classroom, and here at UNI, students need to have access to food.

Food Insecurity

Food insecurity refers to USDA's measure of lack of access, at times, to enough food for an active healthy life. Food-Insecure households are not necessarily food insecure all the time. It may reflect a household's need to make trade-offs between important basic needs, such as housing, medical bills, and purchasing nutritionally adequate foods (Feeding America, 2018). For our students these tradeoffs also include tuition, books, and other school expenses.

High food security means that a person has no limitations gaining access to the food they need. Very low food security means there are multiple reasons why a person is unable to access the food they need, resulting in inconsistent eating patterns and reducing the amount of food they eat.

Quick Facts

The Panther Pantry continues their strong relationship with the Northeast Iowa Food Bank. This partnership allows the Panther Pantry to purchase all food and necessity items at $0.19 per pound. Additional partners include Creekside Gardens on the UNI campus, Kwik Star, Starbucks, and various student organizations.

Fall 2022, the Pantry supported 293 students including 48 international students from 28 different countries. The pantry received 8,522 pounds of food and personal hygiene products from 30 donors ranging from student organizations, UNI departments and community supporters. 

So far this spring, 3,587 pounds of food and necessities have been distributed to 169 students (555 total visits).