Casper College started its food pantry in 2020, and since then, it has brought in over 16,000 pounds of food.
“It’s always just wonderful to see students come in and be like, ‘Whoa, I didn’t know this existed.’ And just seeing that relief enter their mind,” Devin Fulton, the student life coordinator at Casper College, said.
Food pantries around Casper are seeing increased need during the holiday season, including the one at Casper College.
“We went to the food bank to grab 1,500 pounds of food last week. This week, you couldn’t even tell that we did that. So, there’s been a huge increase in students attending or coming to this food pantry,” said Fulton.
The increase in demand is turning into a trend, as the pantry is on track to break last year’s visit record.
“Last year, or last December, we had 800 total visits at that point. And that was a new record for the food pantry,” Fulton said. “By next week, we’re going to have 1,200 visits.”
The increase in visitors has caused the pantry to change its rules.
“We’ve increased the limit that students can grab food, item-wise, from 8 to 14 throughout the rest of the semester just to help students get through the holidays and help them save money,” Fulton said.
These are not the only efforts they are making.
“(We’re) being more proactive and grabbing much more items and bulk amounts, and just continuing to tell students about the food pantry,” added Fulton.
The Casper College Foundation and Alumni Association will host a high tea event on Dec. 8 to support the food pantry.
