Bobcats Helping Bobcats is pushing even harder to get swipes for its meal bank drive this semester.
Last semester, the drive only secured around 300 swipes for the Bobcats Helping Bobcats Meal Bank, a program that allows students with a meal plan to donate swipes to those on campus who face food insecurity.
Students who have a meal plan can donate up to three swipes during the course of that week, and they cannot be guest swipes, Kathy Fahl, the assistant dean of students, said.
“Those meal swipes go into a bank,” Fahl said. “Students who are in need can then apply and get those awarded ... to their ID card and then can have meals in the dining halls.”
The drive happens once every semester, with the most recent drive taking place last semester right before Thanksgiving break. It was less successful than the drives that had taken place in previous semesters, Fahl said.
“We had 300-and-some meals donated last semester,” Fahl said. “It wasn't as good as the previous semester, when we had over 1000 meals donated.”
Last semester, there was a miscommunication with Culinary Services that affected the drive, Madison Jeffrey, the Cats’ Cupboard food pantry coordinator, said.
“To my knowledge, they were either told not to ask (for donations), or they weren't told that they should be asking, or they were uncomfortable asking,” Jeffrey said.
The meals serve multiple purposes. Many students with food insecurity do not have the opportunity to eat out very often, and dining halls offer a change of pace as well as a nutritious option for these students that helps with the embarrassment students feel when they are food insecure, Jeffrey said.
“The whole reason for the meal bank was to allow students to not feel judged to get food and get the nutrition that they need that will help them to get through school because that's the reason why they're here,” Jeffrey said.
This semester, Bobcats Helping Bobcats will be changing the way it publicizes the swipe drive that is taking place this week.
“We will have students standing outside of the dining halls just reminding people, ‘Hey, you can donate if you have (an) extra swipe,’” Sarah Gaskell, the OU Basic Needs graduate assistant, said. “So we're hoping that a little bit of reminder will be able to help people remember.”
Last semester, Jeffrey said she found people felt pressured to donate or didn’t know about it at all.
“We decided that some students felt pressure to donate their meal swipes,” Jeffrey said. “We are kind of taking it upon ourselves now to have our own volunteers standing outside the dining halls and asking them to donate so they don't feel pressured by the dining halls.”
The program is also increasing its presence on social media and is collaborating with people around campus.
“Our social media created new graphics that we can use, and we're getting other students and ... leaders on campus to share those throughout their social media,” Fahl said.
Along with the meal bank, Bobcats Helping Bobcats also has multiple other programs for students who are food insecure.
“One of the things we just launched this semester … is Pantry Packs, where students can sign up to get perishable things like eggs, milk, cheeses and fresh produce,” Fahl said. “That's definitely something we're really … focusing on because we know those are things that are healthy, and they're sustaining.”
Other resources include Cats’ Cupboard, the on-campus food pantry.
“As a sustaining, ongoing way to fight hunger, our pantry is probably much more impactful,” Fahl said. “Students can come there any time Baker Center is open. There's a variety of foods that they can get access to. We want to make sure we're letting people know about that resource.”
Cats’ Cupboard runs on the honors system. For students in need, all that is required is they swipe into the room on the fifth floor of Baker Center.
“We have a website that lists not only our pantry on it, but … also there's community pantries, and there's also ... community meals that happen,” Fahl said. “In Athens County, there's a free community meal every night of the week, and we’re trying to make sure that we're letting people know about not just our campus resources, but the many community resources that exist out there.”
Gaskell said food insecurity on campus is an issue, and the meal bank can have a big impact on students’ lives.
“Food insecurity is real and definitely on our campus, so these meals aren't going to waste,” Gaskell said. “They're going to students who really need them.”
