Returning students may have noticed that the location of the Hungry Owl Food Pantry has changed. Formerly located in the basement of Joslin House, the pantry now finds itself in the L.P. Young Student Center, where it is more visible to passing students and visitors.
The Hungry Owl has been recognized in the past by the New Hampshire Food Bank for its contribution to the campus and the welfare of its students. The Hungry Owl also has multiple satellite locations, some of which can be found in the Elliot Center and Keddy Hall.
The college was also previously awarded a STARS (Sustainability Tracking, Assessment, and Rating System) Gold rating. The rating comes from the Association for the Advancement of Sustainability in Higher Education. KSC has been a part of STARS since 2012.
Emily Alexander, the staff advisor for the Hungry Owl, provided some insight about the move and the difference the new location has had on business and student accessibility.
“Right now, Granite Valley Prep is renting the space [in Joslin] and using it for their school,” Alexander explained. “The Hungry Owl and Thrifty Owl both needed to find new space, so it worked out well that this space in the student center had been unused for quite some time and had previously been a convenience store, so it was already set up well to house the food pantry.”
Alexander said she felt the location change may be an improvement for the pantry.
“I think Joslin House was out of the way for a lot of students,” Alexander went on. “If students didn’t go there for classes, they might not know where to look. … I do think having it really front and center in the main space, the gathering space on campus, will be really helpful, just for getting the word out that it’s a resource for our students, staff and faculty, so I think we’ll see some traffic increase.”
Alexander also shared how the space compares to the one the Hungry Owl had in Joslin and where the food comes from.
“The space we have now is different (than Joslin),” Alexander said. “In Joslin, we had two different rooms. But I think they’re probably pretty equivalent. Not too different, just set up differently.”
“We shop and we utilize local farm stands,” Alexander elaborated. “We source a lot of our food through the New Hampshire Food Bank, and they do deliveries once a month. We will also shop at places like Walmart, or if we get gift cards or donations to places, we use those as well.”
Alexander stressed the need for more volunteers and how any amount of work would be helpful to the Hungry Owl and its cause.
“Right now, we probably have about 8-10 volunteers. It fluctuates each semester depending on who’s available,” Alexander said. “I like to have at least two volunteers per shift. There’s volunteers who don’t staff the open hours but who stock the satellites around campus or take inventory. They also might produce pop-ups or tabling events.”
Alexander went on to say that there is an open position on Tuesday nights from 4-6 and that anyone who wants to volunteer should reach out to her.
Samantha Hatcher, a senior and volunteer for the Hungry Owl, echoed Alexander’s feelings about the change.
“I 100 percent have seen more business,” Hatcher said regarding the different location. “I was a bit worried we would run out of stuff.”
“The volunteer work is a lot by students, and then [Alexander] does the shopping,” Hatcher went on to explain. “We do need more people. I think there are around 10 [volunteers].”
When asked about the reason behind the change from Joslin to the student center, Hatcher said they wanted the Hungry Owl “to be more accessible” to the student population.
Chloe Erno can be contacted at
cerno@kscequinox.com
