The NIU Huskie Food Pantry is expanding.
The pantry is open to all students and welcomes anyone feeling overwhelmed by affording food while attending classes.
Nancy Prange is the Dietetic Internship Director at NIU. She says some students must choose between spending their money on food or on books. She says food insecurity can also take time away from their studies.
"Unfortunately, with COVID, we have seen a large increase in the number of food insecure students," Prange said. "In this economy and the grocery store chain, there isn't as much food available and everything is more expensive.
She says NIU is also trying to be a more sustainable campus.
"We are trying to decrease our carbon footprint," Prange said. "The [Huskie Harvest] kind of helps both of those things. We are recovering food from campus catering, which would have otherwise just been thrown away and we package it into individual meals, and then freeze them."
Since launching in February, volunteers have recovered 520 pounds of food from NIU catered events.
The pantry is open two days a week and located at the Chick Evans Field House.
Organizers are discussing future Huskie Harvest expansion plans like finding other sites around campus for students to pick up meals.
Learn more about the Huskie Food Pantry.
