A simple premise drives the work of the Campus Cupboard and the Campus Closet at the HUB Millersville: Everyone deserves to have their basic needs met. The two programs were created by United Campus Ministry and Millersville Community Church (MCC) to support Millersville University (MU) students a few years ago, and the programs have become even more important in recent months.
"Hundreds of students each year are clients at the Cupboard. We're trying to follow what we see as the increasing needs of students in the community," said HUB director Ed Weber.
HUB board member and MU assistant professor of social work Jennifer Frank noted that the statistics back up Weber's observation. "A research study on food insecurity as defined by the USDA showed 36.5% of MU students had low or very low food security. That's three times the national average," Frank said, adding that the trend is similar at other universities. More than 600 MU students completed the survey, which also showed that some students are homeless and sleeping in their cars.
The HUB is located in MCC's First Campus, the A-frame church, at 121 N. George St., Millersville, and houses the Campus Cupboard and Campus Closet. The Campus Cupboard offers a food pantry at which MU students may shop for their weekly food needs free of charge. Additionally, the Cupboard serves hot meals, including lunches on Tuesdays and Thursdays and French toast, often with games or live music, on Friday evenings. A breakfast club will be introduced over the next few weeks to provide breakfast and a safe place to study in the mornings.
"Especially during COVID, the need to connect with others is really important. We're sensitive to the guidelines and mitigation policies ... but students still want places to come to spend time with their friends," Weber said.
"The university has been supportive," Weber continued. "The Campus Cupboard is almost exclusively funded by the university: professors, staff members, and administrators who believe in what we're doing and alumni who graduate and give support."
Public support is also welcome in the form of donations and volunteers who serve in the food pantry. The Campus Cupboard works with the Food Recovery Network, which helps to eliminate food waste on campus and meet student needs, and the Central Pennsylvania Food Bank, which leverages cash donations. "Give us a dollar, and we can get about five or six boxes of cereal from the food bank, but it rarely has peanut butter, so if we can't get it there, we'll go out and shop," Weber said, adding that coupon clipping experts can help the Campus Cupboard stretch its local shopping budget.
The Campus Closet offers professional clothing for students to wear to job interviews and internships. "If (readers) have that kind of clothing to donate, we can definitely use that kind of help as well," social work intern Nikki Rohrback said.
Social work interns like Rohrback helped to develop the Campus Cupboard, and they assist in its administration. Frank oversees the program. "It's a natural partnership. The focus of social work is on people who are marginalized and don't have their basic needs met," Frank explained. The student social workers are tasked with identifying community needs and ways to meet them.
Food and clothing donations may be dropped off at the HUB between noon and 9 p.m. on weekdays.
For more information about HUB Millersville and its programs, readers may visit http://www.hubmillersville.com, email connect@hubmillersville.com, or call 717-584-4204.
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