Purple Pantry opens location on ECU’s Health Sciences Campus
A valuable resource in decreasing food insecurity among East Carolina University students officially opened at the Health Sciences Campus (HSC) Students Center on Aug. 31.
ECU’s Purple Pantry has provided students a place to collect their most needed food and hygiene items since opening on Main Campus in 2018. The newly opened location on ECU’s Health Sciences Campus will make this important service even more accessible to students in need.
Lauren Howard, right, discusses items on the shelf with College of Business professor April Reed at the HSC Purple Pantry. (Photo by Rhett Butler)
College Life and Food Insecurity
It may be surprising to learn how many college students do not have enough healthy food to eat. In the Season 2 finale of Talk Like a Pirate — ECU’s official podcast — host Rich Klindworth looks at how the Purple Pantry help food insecure students.
“On college campuses, in general, a lot of people don’t think that students experience food insecurity, when in reality, sometimes the highest stress point that students face is where their next meal will be coming from,” said Lauren Howard, assistant director of the Center for Leadership and Civic Engagement.
Food insecurity was already a prevalent issue at ECU that was amplified by the COVID-19 pandemic, Howard said, and students on the Health Sciences Campus, many of whom are seeking advanced degrees, were no exception.
“We’ve been experiencing that need from different departments on this campus, during the past year, who were asking for our Pirate Packs for students,” said Howard, of the bags provided by the Purple Pantry that are filled with 10-15 pounds of food and hygiene items. “That is why we are excited to be on this campus and to be a resource for these students who people don’t think need help, but they do.”
The new Purple Pantry location is housed in Room 122A on the first floor of the Health Sciences Student Center, which sits directly in the center of the Health Science Campus.
“It’s exciting for us to be right in the hub of this campus and right off the bus loop, because it will be easier for students to come here and get the items they need,” said Howard, adding there is also a side door students can exit through if they are concerned about the “stigma” of being seen getting items from the pantry.
College of Nursing Dean Dr. Sylvia Brown and School of Dental Medicine Dean Dr. Greg Chadwick were among the first to tour the new pantry location.
“It is vitally important for our students to have access to resources like this one. Many times, they come from disadvantages backgrounds, so having this type of facility available for them is just wonderful,” Brown said.
Chadwick said the Purple Pantry helps to address an unmet need on the Health Sciences Campus.
“This resource is great and long overdue,” he said. “A lot of times, we are not aware when students are facing food insecurity issues. But I know that once this facility is open, staffed with volunteers and giving out food, this is going to provide great support to our students.”
The Purple Pantry in the Health Sciences Student Center is open Tuesday–Thursday, 10 a.m.–2 p.m. Additional details are available on the ECU Purple Pantry website.
For more information about donations or collaborations, email purplepantry@ecu.edu or call 252-737-1669. Donations can also be made through the pantry’s Amazon Wishlist.