OUR PROJECT:

The goal and mission of Jack's Cupboard is to join together to alleviate hunger at SDSU. #nojackgoeshungry

We’re raising money to help support students who are food insecure on the SDSU campus. Our main goal is to provide support to our students with non-perishable foods, but we also want to dream big! We aspire to offer fresh foods through a special voucher program where a student can get milk, eggs, bread, and fresh vegetables from our on-campus convenience store.

WHO WE ARE:

A group of committed faculty and staff including Kas Williams, Chris Kaberline and Kathie Erdman-Becker are part of the Jack's Cupboard team. Kas Williams serves as the Chief Diversity Officer, Chris Kaberline serves as the Associate Director for Housing & Residential Life and Kathie Erdman-Becker serves as Coordinator of Experiential Learning, professional Advisor and Associate Professor of Arts, Humanities & Social Sciences. Aside from their regular full-time positions listed, these three ladies serve Jack’s Cupboard in their spare time. A talented group of student volunteers also provide additional support to keep Jack’s Cupboard up and running.

OUR STORY:

Jack’s Cupboard is a free resource and was created to ensure all students have access to healthy food on campus, helping diminish food insecurity at South Dakota State University.

A student simply visits Jack's Cupboard with their student ID and can choose items from the pantry.

Our passion derived from not only hearing about the issue of food insecurity on campuses across the United States, but from seeing the need right here on our SDSU campus. At least one-half of American undergraduates experience food insecurity (Broto, K.A, & Goldrick-Rab S. (2017). Many students today are facing the problematic decision: buy textbooks or groceries?

So why is it important to alleviate food insecurities? Food insecurity is directly associated with reduced academic performance and rate of degree completion (Philips, E., McDaniel, A., & Croft, A. (2018).

Since opening Jack’s cupboard last year, we've served over 250+ students and an average of 15 students per week.

HOW WE'RE SUPPORTED:

We're supported by students, faculty, staff, and the community, typically through food donations. It's inspiring to see how our own students have become involved with this project, from donating their own canned goods, volunteering time, or sharing their meal plans! (Students- with a meal plan- can donate block meals for Larson Commons by visiting Card Services in the Student Union. Students  wanting to donate flex dollars can also contribute at Card Services.)

Donations of nonperishable food items are accepted at: 

- Jack's Cupboard (Wednesdays and Thursdays from 3:30-6:30 pm)

- Housing & Residential Life Office in Caldwell Hall (Weekdays from 8 am – 5 pm)

- University Police Department (24/7)

- Student Union, near Information Exchange (Union business hours)

- We will also have a special drop-off location at the SDSU Foundation during the duration of this project (Weekdays from 8 am – 5 pm)

Where will the money go?

Until now, Jack's Cupboard has worked with a zero budget with support from in-kind contributions from Housing & Residential Life. Our hope is to increase our funding, providing more opportunities for our students! 

• $25 covers the average cost of items a student picks up during one visit to Jack's Cupboard. By making a gift of this size, you can help feed a student for a week.
• $50 provides a care package for a student, including personal hygiene products (toothbrush, toothpaste, shampoo, conditioner, body wash).
• $100 helps purchase shelving to make Jack’s Cupboard feel more like a store than a food pantry, hoping to create a safer, more comfortable environment for our students.
• $1000 helps purchase a student ID card-access system, providing a more streamlined experience for our students.

Find us here

Facebook: Jacks Cupboard SDSU 

Be sure to follow us on Facebook to keep updated!

For cash/check donations, you can drop them off or mail them here: 

SDSU Foundation 

815 Medary Avenue/Box 525 

Brookings, SD 57007

Help us succeed!

We have big aspirations, but we need YOUR help to make this possible. Consider supporting feeding a Jackrabbit today! You don't need to give money to help us succeed. Please share this project with anyone you think would support us, on Twitter, Facebook, LinkedIn, or by email.