Chancellor visits the Binghamton University Food Pantry

State University of New York Chancellor Jim Malatras visited the Binghamton University Food Pantry Feb. 14, and hailed it as a model pantry for the SUNY system. He toured the pantry prior to holding a press conference announcing an expansion of SUNY campus pantry resources to combat food insecurity made worse for students during the pandemic. This was the first critical issue raised by the SUNY Voices Action Committee with the suggestion for food pantries to be equipped with refrigerators. Malatras announced that SUNY is making grants available to campuses that don’t already have refrigeration or the funding to do so.

This initiative came about when SUNY Student Voices Action Committee Member and Binghamton senior Jason Eckhaus raised this as a number-one issue for many campuses. All SUNY campuses have food pantries, but by providing them with the means to have refrigeration, Eckhaus shared that this could help them even more. As part of the program, SUNY has committed to providing grants of up to $1,000 directly to campuses so they are able to acquire refrigerators for their food pantries. Refrigeration will make it possible for every campus to extend the freshness of perishable foods and will allow campuses to store more fresh food and protein.

Malatras applauded Binghamton University for its focus on facing the issue of food insecurity with solutions. The Binghamton University Food Pantry, which is equipped with refrigeration and freezer space, has stayed open throughout the pandemic for students on campus and in the community who have been confronted with lost wages and difficulty accessing food. Due to the increase in usage and to ensure appropriate social distancing, the pantry moved to an online ordering and pick-up model in mid-April, allowing any student to place an order on the pantry’s website once a week. Pantry student interns and staff then package the food and distribute bags to students for pick up at a prearranged time, twice a week.

Binghamton’s pantry moved to the Iroquois Commons above the CIW Dining Hall in August 2020, previously a small convenience store. The success of the pantry during the COVID-19 pandemic has been in large part thanks to donations from diverse benefactors on and off campus. Partnerships such as with the Food Bank of the Southern Tier, CHOW, Binghamton University Dining Services (BUDS) and with M&T Bank have supported the pantry’s efforts to improve student nutrition and accessibility.