Engineering Food Drive Supports Campus Food Pantry

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Left to Right: Meagan Olsen, Kevin Torres, Mary Kate Fairley , Eleanor Henson, Isabel Arrocha (seated).

A food drive in the College of Engineering collected 670 food items and raised more than $350 to support the Jane B. Gearhart Full Circle Food Pantry at the University of Arkansas.

The drive was hosted by the University of Arkansas Chapter of Tau Beta Pi and the College of Engineering Staff Council. Tau Beta Pi is a national engineering honors society.

The donations, gathered from across the College, will benefit the Jane B. Gearhart Full Circle Food Pantry on campus, a student-led emergency food assistance fund that serves anyone with a U of A or UAMS identification.

Eleanor Henson is an honors biological and agricultural engineering major who chairs the Razorback Food Recovery Team and helped organize the food drive as service chair of Tau Beta Pi. She said the food drive addresses a critical need on campus.

"The food drive for the Jane B. Gearhart Full Circle Food Pantry allows Tau Beta Pi to provide a service opportunity within the College of Engineering that gives back to the entire University of Arkansas community, as opposed to a service event targeted to one group of people," she said. "The pantry serves anyone with a U of A or UAMS ID card, including students, staff, faculty, as well as temporary and hourly employees."

She said the group also hopes the event will bring attention to the pantry as a resource.

"We also hope to help raise awareness within the student body that the Full Circle Food Pantry exists. In 2016, the Center for Community Engagement and the pantry conducted a study to gauge student use of the pantry," she said. "The research showed that 38% of students on our campus have encountered food insecurity, and only 2% of students have used the pantry. We hope to help end the stigma that only select groups of people can use this resource and make the pantry seem more approachable, especially for students."

Henson said the food drive was especially meaningful given the COVID-19 pandemic.

"This year's donations are special because the food drive ended just before the University of Arkansas campus made the switch to online classes due to the Covid-19 pandemic," she said. "This is a chaotic time for everyone, and financial or food-related resources may be harder to come by. Although the pantry had to close during this time, staff members have been leaving pre-made Full Circle fast bags of food at both the pantry and an off-campus location for community members to take as needed. We hope the Tau Beta Pi donations are reaching the community members in need through these fast bags in this crisis."

Amy Shell, president of the College of Engineering Staff Council, said the council got involved in the drive because of the impact the food pantry has for staff members.

"The College of Engineering Staff Council has joined with Tau Beta Pi over the last two years to help bring awareness to our campus' food insecurity," she said. "Tau Beta Pi was already leading the effort and the council thought we could assist with advertising the outreach to our faculty and staff.  The COE Council exists to advance staff professionally, it's also a personal mission. It's been a pleasure to work with the next generation that is so aware of their community need."