The COVID 19 pandemic has given rise to many new stresses and challenges for many people. Rates of housing and food insecurity have risen sharply and many of our Spartan community members are struggling to get by. The Spartan Open Pantry (SOP), operated by Wesley-Luther at College Place United Methodist Church in Greensboro as a non-profit organization, serves Spartan students and staff who are experiencing high insecurity with basic needs. The SOP provides help to individuals who do not have access to food with high nutritional value.
As a non profit organization, the Spartan Open Pantry does not have unlimited resources and as such it operates on 2 main principles.
1) It serves Spartan community members who truly are in need of food for themselves and their dependents.
2) It operates on the honor system which means that visitors are expected to only take the food they need for themselves and their dependents for 1 week at a time.
These 2 principles ensure that all students who truly need food to survive for the week will be able to get it. The goal is to make sure that no Spartan goes hungry; we ask that everyone who accesses the Pantry, or volunteers to help at the Pantry, adheres to these principles.
More specifically, there are a number of rules for everyone visiting the pantry:
● Visitors may only visit the pantry once a week. This means that visitors may only
receive one hot meal a week unless specially authorized by staff.
● Visitors need to follow the directions of the pantry staff and volunteers; this includes
respecting item limit signs posted within the pantry
● Only three visitors are allowed in the shopping area at a time.
● Masks are currently optional for vaccinated individuals. All unvaccinated visitors should remain masked.
● All visitors must sanitize their hands upon entering the pantry and remain socially distanced.
● Visitors must only pick up items for themselves (and their dependents who are registered on their Spartan Open Pantry account) for one week at a time.
Anyone breaking these rules will be prohibited from using the pantry either temporarily or permanently. Attempts to resell any item from the Pantry will result in an immediate ban. Broken rules are more than simply inappropriate behavior, they divert resources away from other individuals who desperately need food resources.
Thank you for doing your part to protect this crucial resource on our campus so it can continue to provide this vital support to all students who need it!