Husky Harvest Food Pantry Makes Its Debut At UConn's Storrs Campus

STORRS, CT — A new food pantry has been set up at the University of Connecticut to serve those in the community not on a meal and not necessarily having a full cupboard.

Husky Harvest made its debut this week at the 600-square-foot former convenience store in the Charter Oak Apartments Community Center .

Though locations like the Storrs Congregational Church have helped "those struggling with food insecurity," the thought was to get another location on the main campus, officials said.

Husky Harvest at Storrs will operate in much the same way as the Husky Harvest pantries at the regional campuses that have opened over the last several months. A partnership with Connecticut Foodshare is enabling the venture and providing grocery staples with regular deliveries, officials said.

In addition to food, Husky Harvest will likely offer personal care items, like donated shampoo and deodorant and, with the help of funding from the Undergraduate Student Government, items like laundry detergent, toilet paper and soap. The idea is to prevent someone from deciding, "between putting food on their plate and taking a shower."

Another idea is to also offer a pots and pans collected from faculty and staff members, items from departmental food drives and leftover grab-and-go items from the local cafes. Partnerships with some of the university’s existing food vendors are also possible, officials said.

The pantry will take in some of the aforementioned donations, most likely beginning in the summer or fall, but but for the remainder of this semester, Connecticut Foodshare will likely be the sole provider.

____

Husky Harvest at Storrs will be open Mondays and Thursdays from 11 a.m. to 4 p.m. at the Charter Oak Apartments Community Center, 916 Tower Court Road. Anyone with a UConn ID can visit and will be asked to show their University ID and give a name and telephone number. Contributions to the UConn Storrs Campus Food Insecurity Fund at the UConn Foundation can be made online.