The Eagle Essentials Food Pantry gathered over 2,000 donated items after efforts from a group of Georgia Southern students working alongside the Dean of Students Office to put on food drive events this semester.

“We worked closely all semester with the Dean of Students Office to make the Food Drive event possible,” said GS student and group coordinator, Roxanne Cortner. “We bounced ideas off of each other and shared them with the Dean of Students to make sure it was an event they could be on board with to launch their food pantry.”

“Working with this group helped us get more students involved and collected about 2,000 items for the pantry,” said assistant dean of student care & well-being, Casey Weaver. 

In the spring of 2020 a group of GS faculty and staff began a regularly run food drive on campus to help food-insecure students. The food drives yielded a lot of food and supplies, so in the fall of 2020, the Eagle Essentials Food Pantry opened in the Williams Center for students.

“The food pantry is important because there are students on campus who need access to food because they have very little or none at all,” said Weaver.

The pantry also features a hygiene room for supplies beyond just food. Some items in the hygiene room include toilet paper, shampoo, body wash, feminine products, deodorant and some cleaning supplies. 

Students and staff can donate to the pantry and volunteer to work it.

The Eagle Essentials Food Pantry welcomes any student who is in need, and students can get supplies for two weeks at a time. Its hours of operation are as follows: Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday and Friday from noon to 4 p.m. and Thursdays from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m.  

If students need to utilize the food pantry they complete the Eagle Essentials Food Pantry form.