Archie’s Closet Food Drive is a great way for the university to come together, said the drive’s director Terri Alvey.
The food drive will start Labor Day and run through Sept. 18., during which 20 donation boxes will be scattered around campus for faculty, staff and students to drop off food items.
Archie’s Closet is a food pantry located in the RFWC. To use the closet, you can “ask for Archie” at the front desk.
Jeannie Kuebler, Archie’s Closet organizer, said the closet is a service for students and staff who are struggling.
“Students have had to buy their books or they have just moved into housing, so they don’t have these kinds of expenses,” Kuebler said. “They just don’t have the money to go out and buy food.”
Kuebler said that she feels that students do better when they aren’t hungry. The closet has all non-perishable foods so students can also keep these items for a while.
“Students are allowed to come once a month and are allowed one large bag, unfortunately, the bags aren’t very large,” she said. “I always tell them that if there are a few more things they are trying to fit in, then it’s okay to take in a little bit more.”
All of us look forward to the food drive, Kuebler said. It’s just such a wonderful event.
Alvey said the food drive is an annual event the staff council puts together.
“They get donations through the year or through the semester, but we try to do it at the very beginning of the semester,” Alvey said.
She said they strongly encourage staff and faculty to donate, as well as students, although it’s not mandatory.
“We have students that have used Archie’s Closet and they come back next year and bring a bunch of stuff to put in the boxes,” Alvey said. “One of the students said that it was his way of giving back.”
A lot of students like to use Archie’s Closet because it helps them out when they are between paychecks. Archie’s Closet has a huge impact on the students, Alvey said. Faculty and staff also like to use it, too.
There was a time when Archie’s Closet became low on food, Alvey said. So, university faculty and staff had to do something to step up their donation game.
“We started a competition amongst the departments and we have a traveling trophy that is made out of little cans of food,” Alvey said. “Then the department that wins has the joy of saying, ‘Hey we got the most.'”
As the university celebrates the 50th anniversary, Alvey said, they decided to host the event Pack the Closet in order to increase participation.
“We want all the departments to participate and bring in 50 items. Once they do, we want them to tweet, post about it on all social media with the university and say, ‘Our department got 50 items,'” Alvey said.
The Archie’s Closet staff always enjoys the drive, Alvey said, because it’s great to see how giving the university is.
