The UIC Pop-Up Pantry provides nutritious foods that support students’ academic performance.
The UIC Pop-Up Pantry not only cares about providing food for students, but also providing quality food for students.
“Your brain uses about 20% of the calories that you eat every day in order to function. As your calories decrease, your brain function is going to be affected,” said Carol Petersen, senior director of health, education and wellness at the University of Illinois Chicago’s Wellness Center and founder of the UIC Pop-Up Pantry.
But quantity is not the only thing that matters. Food quality is crucial to a student’s health and academic studies. This is where the UIC Pop-Up Pantry steps in. It provides students with dry goods, fruits, vegetables, milk and eggs and teaches students what a nutritious diet should look like.
This is all part of the Pop-Up Pantry’s mission to fuel academic success and student development among UIC students who are experiencing food insecurity. And, it directly supports the UIC Student Success Initiative’s health and well-being element, which calls for an integrated, community-oriented approach to a thriving, health-promoting campus.
According to data from 91 U.S. institutions (74,350 respondents) via the Hope Center 2023-24 Student Basic Needs Survey, 41% of students reported experiencing food insecurity. Among new, first-year students at UIC, 24% requested a referral to the Pop-Up Pantry.
Over the years, Petersen has seen first hand the pantry’s impact of responding to students’ food security needs. She recalls one student who was a recently divorced mother with two children, studying for an engineering degree and working hard as a student and as a mother. The pantry staff always made sure she received extra food and was available to her even after hours. Another student experiencing homelessness, upon realizing the pantry’s food was completely free, began to cry.
“When life is difficult, it can seem like you are fighting an uphill battle,” said Petersen. “And then somebody offers you a solution, and the solution is easy and free. You have that release of tension and anxiety that you’ve been holding onto. For some of us, this release comes out in the form of tears of joy.”
Another student Petersen recalls used the food pantry throughout his time at UIC. After graduating, he came back to make a donation as a thank you for the food that he had received.
Support the UIC Pop-Up Pantry
Here’s how to support the UIC Pop-Up Pantry:
Order food to the UIC Pop-Up Pantry using a delivery service like DoorDash
Purchase food on Amazon and send it to UIC’s Amazon Hub Locker
Host a food drive on behalf on the UIC Pop-Up Pantry
Recognize and be aware of food insecurity among college students
Holiday Season
The Pop-UP Pantry relies on donations to help students. This holiday season, multiple colleges and units have come together to host drives and donate food and funds to help support the pantry through breaks in the academic calendar and changes to the federal Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program. Petersen noted that UIC’s College of Business alone donated 250 toiletry kits, which flew off the shelves.
Petersen said, "The UIC campus community is really answering the call this year, and they’re putting their hearts into action.”
The UIC Pop-Up Pantry will serve students until it closes for winter break on December 19. Like Thanksgiving, students will be able to take enough food to last through winter break. The pantry also gives small gifts to spread the holiday cheer.
A group of UIC volunteers pose for a photo in front of shelves of food donations at the university food pantry. (Photo: Jenny Fontaine/UIC)
UIC
Pop-Up
Pantry
Nourishes Student Success
By Citlali Dominguez
The UIC Pop-Up Pantry provides nutritious foods that support students’ academic performance.
The UIC Pop-Up Pantry not only cares about providing food for students, but also providing quality food for students.
“Your brain uses about 20% of the calories that you eat every day in order to function. As your calories decrease, your brain function is going to be affected,” said Carol Petersen, senior director of health, education and wellness at the University of Illinois Chicago’s Wellness Center and founder of the UIC Pop-Up Pantry.
But quantity is not the only thing that matters. Food quality is crucial to a student’s health and academic studies. This is where the UIC Pop-Up Pantry steps in. It provides students with dry goods, fruits, vegetables, milk and eggs and teaches students what a nutritious diet should look like.
This is all part of the Pop-Up Pantry’s mission to fuel academic success and student development among UIC students who are experiencing food insecurity. And, it directly supports the UIC Student Success Initiative’s health and well-being element, which calls for an integrated, community-oriented approach to a thriving, health-promoting campus.
According to data from 91 U.S. institutions (74,350 respondents) via the Hope Center 2023-24 Student Basic Needs Survey, 41% of students reported experiencing food insecurity. Among new, first-year students at UIC, 24% requested a referral to the Pop-Up Pantry.
Over the years, Petersen has seen first hand the pantry’s impact of responding to students’ food security needs. She recalls one student who was a recently divorced mother with two children, studying for an engineering degree and working hard as a student and as a mother. The pantry staff always made sure she received extra food and was available to her even after hours. Another student experiencing homelessness, upon realizing the pantry’s food was completely free, began to cry.
“When life is difficult, it can seem like you are fighting an uphill battle,” said Petersen. “And then somebody offers you a solution, and the solution is easy and free. You have that release of tension and anxiety that you’ve been holding onto. For some of us, this release comes out in the form of tears of joy.”
Another student Petersen recalls used the food pantry throughout his time at UIC. After graduating, he came back to make a donation as a thank you for the food that he had received.
Support the UIC Pop-Up Pantry
Here’s how to support the UIC Pop-Up Pantry:
Order food to the UIC Pop-Up Pantry using a delivery service like DoorDash
Purchase food on Amazon and send it to UIC’s Amazon Hub Locker
Host a food drive on behalf on the UIC Pop-Up Pantry
Recognize and be aware of food insecurity among college students
Holiday Season
The Pop-UP Pantry relies on donations to help students. This holiday season, multiple colleges and units have come together to host drives and donate food and funds to help support the pantry through breaks in the academic calendar and changes to the federal Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program. Petersen noted that UIC’s College of Business alone donated 250 toiletry kits, which flew off the shelves.
Petersen said, "The UIC campus community is really answering the call this year, and they’re putting their hearts into action.”
The UIC Pop-Up Pantry will serve students until it closes for winter break on December 19. Like Thanksgiving, students will be able to take enough food to last through winter break. The pantry also gives small gifts to spread the holiday cheer.
A group of UIC volunteers pose for a photo in front of shelves of food donations at the university food pantry. (Photo: Jenny Fontaine/UIC)
UIC
Pop-Up
Pantry
Nourishes Student Success
By Citlali Dominguez
