Feeding a Need: Supporting the Seawolves Pantry

The Stony Brook Seawolves Pantry is committed to serving our campus community members who are in need of a reliable and stable supplemental food source, while also providing other essential resources and related referrals. As a university, we serve a tremendously diverse student population, spanning a variety of cultural, ethnic and religious backgrounds, as well as a spectrum of socio-economic circumstances. We strive to reflect this diversity in the goods, programming and resources that we offer.

The pantry aims to reduce the barriers to academic and cocurricular success that lack of food and other essential resources can present. We are mindful of the correlations between academic performance and dietary behaviors, and we prioritize consistency of access to resources, along with the quality and nutritional value of said resources. Furthermore, our goals are to destigmatize food and basic needs insecurity and use of pantry services, while reducing waste and creating a community of advocates.

On an annual basis, the pantry fulfills over 4,000 visits, serving more than 900 unique users. Our clientele reflect students across all academic levels and residential status (commuters and on-campus residents), as well as faculty, staff and affiliates. With a year-round demand, on- and off-campus partners are pivotal to successfully building a community of support.

The growth of the pantry operation is reliant on both goods and monetary support. Additional funds would positively impact our ability to generously maintain inventory and support unique and culturally significant goods requests. Furthermore, it would allow us to redirect existing funds to further expand the non-grocery goods we offer (e.g., hygiene, school supplies), pilot new and innovative service offerings and address additional staffing needs of the operation.

Your generosity will help us ensure that our students have access to essential resources, affording them the capacity to focus on what they came to Stony Brook for — a top-tier education and an enriching student life experience.

YOUR GIFTS MAKE A DIFFERENCE TO OUR STUDENTS!

Here is just a short list of what your gift will help support:

• $3: Rice to meet you! [1 bag of white rice]
• $8: You’re souper! [4 cans of tomato soup]
• $20: You’re my cup of tea! [500 black tea bags]
• $35: Spread the love! [14 jars of peanut butter]
• $40: We ramen-to be! [100 packs of ramen]
• $55: You mac me smile! [38 mac and cheese boxes]
• $170: You’re out of this world! [1 full restock of one of our satellite locations]
• $800: Nothing is im-pasta-ble! [400 boxes of pasta]
• $1,500: You have a peach of my heart! [430 fruit cups]
• $2,000: Let’s meat up for dinner! [570 canned chicken]
• $3,200: I adore you from my head tomatoes! [900 jars of pasta sauce]
• $5,500: You’re our lifesaver! [Full semester restock of satellite location]
• $7,500: I can thank you enough! [Full restock of storage inventory, used to stock both main and satellite locations]
• $13,000: The apple of our eye! [Full semester restock of main and satellite locations]