OU Food Pantry Helping Students and Staff

Food insecurity is real, even on college campuses, but at the University of Oklahoma they’re tackling this problem through their food pantry.

“And it’s real. Hunger is real. Oklahoma is one of the hungriest states in our nation,” said Matt Mark, coordinator for OU’s food pantry.  

The pantry opened in March of 2017 to serve students, staff and faculty.  

“In the first semester we had about twenty or thirty. A couple of years later we’re at sixty or seventy. Before covid we had one hundred and twenty and just last year, before thanksgiving we had one hundred and eighty,” said Mark.  

Basile is here from Fance and says the pantry has really been helpful to him being so far from home  

“Because I know for like international students we don’t have as much money as American people do because we don’t have family close to us,” said OU student Basile Ertaush.  

His go to item from the pantry?  

“I would say like the mac and cheese because, sometimes, I’m sometimes too lazy to at Crest and Walmart, and I’m like always eating it the first day I get my stuff,” said Ertaush.  

It’s about a fifty-fifty split between OU staff and students that receive from the pantry.  

“She brought that cereal home, her grandson opened the pantry door and got really excited that they have cereal. And for a lot of people, a box of cereal is a box of cereal but for some that’s a main source of food for that day, a couple of days,” said Mark.  

Orders are submitted for available items online, and volunteers come in and fill the orders, packed and ready for the recipients.  

“I love being here at the university of Oklahoma and love doing what I’m doing and working with an incredible group of students cause they’re making it happen and we’re trying to do what we can,” said Mark.  

The pantry receives many donations, including donations from students, however they can always use more. For a list of items or to contribute monetary donations visit their website.