Halloween at the Pantry!

Halloween was an eventful day at the OU Food Pantry! Not only did our pantry team dress in costumes to serve clients on our busiest day of the week, but we also had a pumpkin painting event put on by our Campus Engagement team. For only $2, students had the opportunity to join us at the pantry and decorate pumpkins for Halloween! This was a super fun way to engage with our current clients and volunteers as well as students who may have never been to the OU Food Pantry before. 

Featured Teams

The Operations team (a.k.a. OPS) oversees the pantry during its hours of operation. The OPS team serves as the "face" of the pantry, interacting with and greeting clients. OPS managers serve clients their orders and coordinate volunteers as they fill orders and handle produce. All members of our pantry team are required to volunteer for at least two shifts, which are coordinated by the OPS team. Since they are in the pantry most of the time, the OPS team plays a crucial role in the atmosphere of the Food Pantry.

The Recovery and Distribution team is a crucial team for the OU Food Pantry that works to source, distribute, and organize the pantry’s resources for the OU family. They work very hard to obtain food donations, sort fresh produce, and pack meals as needed. One of their major roles is also to reach out to local grocery stores for donations that we are able to provide to OU students and faculty. This month they have done an amazing job of coordinating with Crest Foods to prepare a huge grab bag event for Thanksgiving. Keep reading for more details! 

Most Needed Items This Month

This month our most needed item is menstrual pads, specifically “regular” pads! Menstrual products are a huge necessity to many of our clients, and pads are currently the most popular menstrual product here at the pantry. We recently launched the Red Pantry, a program put together by the Health and Advocacy team that aims to meet our clients’ menstrual needs as well as promote sustainable menstruation across campus. Through the Red Pantry, clients are able to customize their own FREE monthly period pack. With your generous donations, we hope to increase access to menstrual products on campus and alleviate the hardships that can come with menstruating. 

Thanksgiving Grab-Bags (Thanks to Crest Foods)

Every year, Crest generously provides us with hundreds of Thanksgiving bags to give to our clients. These bags include many of the traditional Thanksgiving meal items, such as cranberry sauce and stuffing. The bags help provide the supplies for celebrating Thanksgiving and contribute to a great meal for those who might otherwise not be able to celebrate or for those who can’t make it home for the holiday and would like the supplies to make a Thanksgiving meal themselves. This year we will have more bags than ever available for our clients! We greatly appreciate Crest’s help in making the holidays special for our clients.

Help Keep Our Shelves Stocked for the Holidays!

Demand for our resources increases greatly during the holiday season. We are currently buying more food than ever to meet the needs of our clients and we rely on monetary donations to make this possible! If you are interested in helping keep our shelves stocked this holiday season, we encourage you to look at our donation options using the button below!

Want to Learn More?

If you are interested in sponsoring, donating, volunteering, or even just want to come see what we do, sign up for a tour of our space and we will show you around and tell you all about it!