By: Madeleine Miyashiro
Over ten years ago, a student in the School of Social Work created a
pantry for his course assignment. After a survey revealed a pressing need for
food, the ministry and donation-based pantry was established in the summer of 2014 as
a community resource. The pantry, located next to the Adventist Book Center in the Flemming
Plaza Mini Mall, is open for students to visit and receive food items.
Students were recently informed through a campuswide email from operations manager of Feed
My Sheep Food Pantry, Katelyn Webster, that the pantry now features a new online order and
pick-up system. Pantry clients can select their items online and schedule a time to pick up their
order.
According to their website, a pantry inventory is kept of all items, and every Monday, the pantry
is restocked. Southern students, employees and community members are allowed to shop once a
week for 15 minutes. They can select two grains, four proteins, eight
fruits or vegetables and four household items.
Once the person has selected the items, they “check out” with a student worker.
On the way out, the client can scan a QR code to comment on items they’d like to see in the
pantry. A junior from the School of Social Work, who wishes to remain
anonymous, reflected on how often he has gone to the pantry in his years at Southern.
“I’ve been [to the food pantry] several times these past two years,” the student said. “One of the
greatest ways to do ministry is to provide the needs for other people and introduce them to God
instead of just saying, ‘God loves you.’ … I believe they are more likely to know God because
they see God as someone who helps them.”
Feed My Sheep continues to assist students and faculty at Southern. For those interested in
visiting the pantry, appointments can be
made at southern.edu/feedmysheep and are available from Monday to Thursday.
According to Webster, Feed My Sheep has seen around 4,000 clients since 2014. Many of the
students who come to the pantry have a wide variety of circumstances and needs.
“We end up seeing a lot of nontraditional students,” she said, “[such as] students who are coming
back to college, who may already have families and full-time jobs, as well as graduate students
who are local.
“We take what we call ‘in-kind’ donations,” Webster
continued. “That’s [actually] somebody dropping off items for the pantry. Of course,
there are financial donations as well, which is through the Advancement office.”
Despite the growing clientele, many students at Southern are unaware that Feed My Sheep exists,
according to Webster. She hopes the pantry gains more recognition.
“There is absolutely no shame in coming to the pantry,” she said. “There’s no exact reason
why you’re coming to the pantry. It can be any reason at all. …We just want you to come.”
The pantry exists for all Southern students, whether they run out of meal plan, live on or off
campus or simply want to experience it for themselves.
“The social work field is all about serving the greater community, whatever that looks like and
wherever that is,” Webster said. “This ministry is just an extension of that. It’s a way to serve our
community on campus.”
