More than 30 community members, including Cornell College staff and students, celebrated the opening of Natalia’s Food Pantry with a ribbon cutting on Wednesday, February 25. Located in Cornell’s Ebersole Health and Wellbeing Center, the Southeast Linn Community Center satellite site offers food, personal care items, and clothing to students and staff at Cornell College.
Last fall, SELCC board members John Gruber-Miller and Anna Butz, both Cornell employees, heard that there was interest in starting a food pantry on campus. In September, SELCC Executive Director Nicole McAlexander met with Ebersole staff to discuss how we could team up to provide more convenient access to food for students.
Cornell’s Student Health & Student Life staff were dedicated to this initiative. They found and prepared a space, recruited student volunteers to work pantry shifts, decided on a name, and created marketing materials. SELCC, with our decades of experience in pantry operations, provided processes, volunteer training, food safety guidelines, food sourcing, and the oversight. All of this came together remarkably quickly, and in less than two months, Natalia’s Food Pantry began serving the Cornell campus, just in time for the November holiday break.
“Our vision at SELCC is that we aspire to be a connected community where every person thrives,” said Nicole, “and this partnership is a perfect example of community connection.”
In its first three months, Natalia’s Food Pantry was visited more than 100 times by over 75 students/staff, and more than 500 pounds of food were distributed.