Community Spotlight: Pitchfork Pantry at ASU
“God does not call us to change the whole world, but to change what we can for each other”
Myself, LAMA Hunger Fellow Autumn Byars (front), and LCM Student Erin Smythe (left) with volunteers at Pitchfork Pantry
In the U.S., about 4 million college students deal with food insecurity. We don’t tend to think of this demographic as a particularly needful group, but among undergraduate students, the rate of food insecurity is more than double the rate among all U.S. households. As our state’s largest college, this is particularly relevant for the community at Arizona State University; about 26% of ASU students struggle to regularly access food, a number that jumps to one in three students living in the university’s dorms. With more than 75,000 students across their four campuses, the ASU community makes up a substantial part of those in need within our community.
One of the groups working to address this need is ASU’s Pitchfork Pantry. Pitchfork Pantry is a student-run, volunteer led food bank that works to raise awareness about financial and food insecurity. Now registered as a 501(c)(3) nonprofit, the organization was originally founded in 2017 as an ASU club; a group of students met in a small space in one of the university’s dorms on the Tempe campus and worked to help treat this unaddressed need. Since then, the pantry has grown, drawing support from university faculty and partnerships with local businesses, and expanding operations to other ASU locations. Over the years, Pitchfork Pantry has operated out of many different locations around campus until finding a home at First United Methodist Church of Tempe. There, volunteers give out nonperishable and fresh foods, hygiene products, and clothing items twice a week, to all ASU students who show up.
Lutheran Ties
University Lutheran Church, long-term home to Lutheran Campus Ministry at ASU and community staple for the last seven decades, has supported the pantry since the beginning. In fact, the original club organizers included members from ASU’s Council of Religious Advisors, mobilized by ULC pastor Gary McCluskey, and LCM alumni from University of Arizona who had founded a student foodbank of their own. Since then, University Lutheran has been regularly donating food and hygiene supplies to the pantry. Last week, I took our first donation of the semester down to Pitchfork Pantry, and I got the opportunity to meet the some of the students who run the organization. They were so excited to see us, before they even knew the size or content of our donation: even a small gift would allow them to help a few more people. As soon as I introduced myself, people were on their feet and helping us bring in boxes. Each of them was overjoyed to talk about the pantry’s operations and functions, grinning at the opportunity to share their mission.
The pantry receives support and donations from many different groups throughout the year. At University Lutheran, we keep a box in our sanctuary to collect food and supplies as our congregants are able to give and deliver the donations when we run out of space or when Pitchfork Pantry expresses a need. I have never once seen the food box empty; even after packing up all our supplies on a Thursday, there were more cans of soup and bars of soap inside before service on Sunday.
We all struggle, sometimes, with whether or not we are doing enough. What can a bag of rice or a bottle of hotel shampoo do in the face of all the sin and brokenness in our world? I can tell you first hand that those small gifts are where the love of the gospel lives. I have watched friends with amazing potential drop out of school so that they can afford to eat, I have seen people ration the number of calories they eat at each meal so that they can make it to the next aid disbursement, and I have had roommates rely on Pitchfork Pantry. This type of work may not offer the same gratification as organizing large-scale projects, but it is just important. When we give together, our gifts are amplified; ULC’s partnerships with Pitchfork Pantry allows us both to help more people. It also is a concrete example of our community caring for one another. That provides a very tangible hope. God does not call us to change the whole world, but to change what we can for each other. Pitchfork Pantry reminds me that Christ’s love, and the joy that it brings, does not just live in our churches on Sunday mornings. It is out in the world, waiting to be found and cultivated with anyone who is willing.
For more info on how to support Pitchfork Pantry, click here.
