The Eagle Resource Closet is in need of these items for donation! Donations can be dropped off outside of the CCE office of the third floor of the UC, outside of the Eagle Resource Closet in Lee Hall (In the attic, take the elevator on the side closest to Monroe hall), and inside the Eagle Resource Closet if you have cold items!
Donations Needed for the Eagle Resources Closet
Martin Discusses Eagle Resource Closet on WVTF
UMW first-years work with CCE Faculty Director Leslie Martin to stock the Eagle Resource Closet, a food pantry on the fifth floor of Lee Hall. Photo by Suzanne Carr Rossi.
Leslie Martin, faculty director of UMW’s Center for Community Engagement and associate professor of sociology, was recently interviewed by WVTF 88.3 Radio IQ about food insecurity among college students and how the Eagle Resource Closet at UMW is addressing this issue.
Many schools around Virginia try to attract students from low-income families with scholarships, grants and loans – but with the cost of living going up, some of those kids run out of cash. That’s prompted universities to open food pantries.
In the attic of an administration building at the University of Mary Washington there’s a large room known as the Eagle Resource Closet. Professor Leslie Martin says you might not know it was there.
“It does provide a lot of privacy,” she explains.
And that’s by design. When the university questioned students they said anonymity was important, and a food pantry was definitely needed.
“We did a survey of students to see how much need there was, and actually almost a quarter of our student population reported being food insecure at some point,” Martin says. Read more.
Thank You for Your Eagle Resource Closet Contributions
UMW first-years work with CCE Faculty Director Leslie Martin to stock the Eagle Resource Closet, a food pantry on the fifth floor of Lee Hall. Photo by Suzanne Carr Rossi.
Hello, UMW faculty and staff:
We wanted to express sincere gratitude for all of the help you have provided to the Eagle Resource Closet this fall. This was our first formal semester being open (though Gwen Hale and Rita Thompson pioneered this effort and served folks who needed help for ages prior; as do many folks around campus).
You all have donated clothes, food, toiletries, and time. THANK YOU. Students also have been pitching in all of the above. And the Alumni Board, Staff Advisory Council, and Dining Services have all run food drives. Parents have asked how they can help and so have alumni – there is interest and willingness, and we are so fortunate in this.
We also want to let you know about impact. Since we opened the ERC this September, over 100 visits have been made (according to our voluntary sign in sheet). We’ve had pages and pages of people expressing thanks and noting how much they actively need this resource. We echo these thanks.
If you want to make donations of goods – drop them at the Center for Community Engagement – UC Suite 320; we will shuttle them to the ERC. If you’d like to make a $ donation, our foundation account can be found here.
Wishing you all a good break. Looking forward to 2020 with you all.
Leslie Martin
Faculty Director, Center for Community Engagement
Thank You to Stop Hunger Food Drive Supporters
To all of our valued Stop Hunger Food Drive supporters:
I am really excited to share with you the results of our recently completed Stop Hunger Food Drive! The total amount of food collected was 8,054 pounds! This is simply spectacular, and we want to thank everyone who worked so hard to make this a success.
A huge “thank you” to all of the UMW athletes who tabled in front of the Giant Food Store and solicited donations in our surrounding neighborhoods, and especially to Maddie Taghorn for coordinating everything so perfectly!
We also want to thank the Staff Advisory Council, Giant Food, and the New City Fellowship Church for your wonderful support.
All of the food is being distributed to the Eagle Resource Closet and to the Fredericksburg Regional Food Bank. We received a call from the Food Bank today expressing their deep appreciation for our donations, and saying they really needed this help right now.
Again, our thanks to everyone for supporting the drive, and we look forward to doing this again, and even better, next year!
Rose Benedict
University of Mary Washington Dining Services