Mission of Corky's Cupboard

The mission of the Corky's Cupboard campus food pantry is to foster a healthy university community by providing temporary food assistance in an effort to alleviate hunger.

Eligibility

To make the pantry as accessible and easy to use as possible, the only eligibility requirement is that users must be currently enrolled ESU students. Students may visit Corky’s Cupboard once per week.

Nourish the Need

Nourish the Need is a sustainability-driven program that leverages the surplus food from the Hornets Nest to create nutritious packaged meals for students facing food insecurity. The goal of this program is to reduce food waste while ensuring students have access to healthy packaged meals. Volunteers work closely with the cafeteria staff to identify and recover surplus food that meets safety and quality standards. To sign up to volunteer to help package meals for this program visit the registration page.

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Resources for Eating Healthy on a Budget

The following resources are provided by the United States Department of Agriculture's Center for Nutrition Policy and Promotion. For more information, visit www.choosemyplate.gov.

• Meeting Your MyPlate Goals on a Budget.pdf
• Eating Better on a Budget.pdf
• Mini-Fridge Makeover.pdf
• Be Choosy in the Dining Hall.pdf
• Build a Healthy Meal.pdf

Stocking the Pantry + Donating to the Pantry

Campus food drives will be held throughout the year, as needed, to keep the pantry stocked. Associated Student Government will annually donate a portion of the goods raised from the fall Can the Bods competition to Corky's Cupboard. However, we will accept donations year-round. If you would like to donate items to the pantry, we kindly ask that you donate items that fall into our donation wish list categories listed below. Donations can be dropped off in the Center for Student Involvement. If you are faculty or staff and you'd like to make a contribution to Corky's Cupboard, please use this form. Individuals wishing to make monetary donations to the pantry may do so by following the steps below.

1. Visit the Emporia State University Foundation giving website.
2. Select the amount you would like to donate.
3. In the "Designation:" drop-down menu, select "Other."
4. In the "Other" field, type Corky's Cupboard Food Pantry Fund.
5. Click the "Add Gift" button, and then complete the rest of the form and click the "Give Now" button.

Background

In Spring 2014, the potential need to provide food assistance to Emporia State students was brought before the Student Affairs Council. The Center for Student Involvement (CSI) and Student Wellness volunteered to lead this initiative. Staff from these two departments, along with the Associated Student Government President and Vice President, began meeting regularly to develop a plan. In the Fall of 2014, Corky’s Cupboard opened, and since then, it has given over 65,000 services, and served over 1,000 different students.

• 42% of respondents indicated that at some point in the current academic year while classes were in session, they skipped a meal because they did not have enough money to buy food
• 42% of respondents indicated that at some point in the past month, they skipped a meal because they did not have enough money to buy food
• 8 students indicated that they had skipped more than 5 meals during the past month

The team immediately began developing plans to open a campus food pantry, named Corky’s Cupboard, in fall 2014.

Pantry Partners

We are grateful to have a number of partners who are helping to make Corky's Cupboard a reality. Pantry Partners provide ongoing support for the pantry, including coordinating pantry operations, staffing the pantry, and hosting food drives to stock the pantry. Our Pantry Partners include:

• Associated Student Government
• Center for Student Involvement
• Community Hornets
• Fraternity + Sorority Life
• Student Wellness

Basic Needs Coalition

The Basic Needs Coalition is a group of students, faculty, staff and community members who work together to ensure all Hornets have access to sufficient food, housing, mental and physical health services and financial resources to succeed inside and outside the classroom. Find resources for affordable housing, financial support and food assistance.

CHEW (Cooking Healthy Eating Well)

Corky’s Cupboard co-sponsors cooking classes with CHEW, Cooking Healthy Eating Well, hosted out of Student Wellness by Mary McDaniel Anschutz and/or Emily Prouse. Cooking classes were offered at the First Christian Church and 10-12 students were led through numerous recipes. Each student was able to take home meals they could fix later in the week. All food was provided by Corky’s Cupboard.

Kiss the Cook!

Corky’s Cupboard is co-sponsoring with Union Activities Council for the program Kiss the Cook! UAC will welcome Chef Jyll Everman, Season 7 Finalist from Food Network Star, LIVE for a fun night of cooking! Students will be able to prepare Tortellini, Shaved Veggie Salad, and Chocolate Pot De Crème on Thursday, February 11 at 7pm. This event is free and open to the public.

ACES & AT&T Learning Fund

Corky’s Cupboard presents the ACES & AT&T Learning Grant School Supplies as a service of Corky’s Cupboard for the Spring 2021 semester. Any student may stop by to pick up free index cards, highlighters, notebooks, planners, sticky pads, sticky page tabs, pens or graphing calculators.