Cortland Cupboard is open and more available

09/29/2020 

The SUNY Cortland Cupboard has been accessible to university students for three years. Despite the changes on campus due to COVID-19, the pantry staff are making sure food-insecure students can continue to get their necessities.

The cupboard, located in the basement of the Interfaith Center on 7 Calvert Street, is a collection of donated nonperishable items. Starting this fall, the food supply can be accessed by students by scanning their ID card. The new ID card feature is efficient and fits seamlessly with COVID-19 guidelines in the cupboard.

“It is more important than ever to have this resource available,” said Natasha McFadden, associate director of The Cortland Fund, who has been volunteering with the pantry for three years and is happy to say that she has watched this source of nonperishable food and toiletries improve over time.

The idea for a cupboard on campus started  with a question: “What is the university doing to help students who are going hungry?”

A student posed this question to John Suarez during the 2016 Presidential Election. Suarez, the coordinator of the Office of Service-Learning at the time, confessed that he did not know the answer.

So, Suarez got to work. A year later, on Nov. 6, 2017, the pantry officially opened its doors with the help of various faculty members. The cupboard is prepared to celebrate its three-year anniversary in a little over a month.

The SUNY Cortland Cupboard  has grown into a valued community resource with four university faculty members serving on the board of directors. The cupboard also has around 10 volunteers each semester, coordinated by one student intern.

This semester, the pantry is accessible from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. Monday through Friday with no appointment necessary.

“We are now able to be open 30 hours a week compared to six hours,” McFadden said.

Previously, a volunteer had to be stationed at the cupboard during its limited hours. Now students can quickly grab the supplies they need within a six-hour window while maintaining social distancing.

During the pandemic, the SUNY Cortland Cupboard also is stocked with in-demand supplies, such as cleaning and disinfectant products.

The expanded hours and convenient ID card access feature will be around long after COVID-19, is just a memory, McFadden said.

For more information on the SUNY Cortland Cupboard and other community resources, visit the website.

Prepared by Communications Office writing intern Nicholas Boyer