Students struggling with food insecurity will have in-person access to WSU’s Office for Access and Opportunity Food Pantry, and can also request go-bags for pickup or delivery over winter break. 

The food pantry is open from 10 a.m. to 1 p.m. Monday, Wednesday and Friday at Lighty Student Services Building room 260, said Anna Schilter, principal assistant for WSU’s Associate Vice President and Dean of Students. 

Go-bags will be available from 10 a.m. to 1 p.m. Dec. 21-23, said Lucila Loera, executive director for WSU’s Office for Access and Opportunity. Go-bags can be requested on the Office for Access and Opportunity’s website.

Students cannot access the pantry Dec. 24-25 and Jan. 1 because the university will be closed, Loera wrote in an email. Students will be given larger go-bags before the pantry closes, Loera said. 

Students will be able to access the pantry during limited hours from Dec. 28-31, she wrote. Those hours will be posted on the office’s website as the date nears. 

The pantry will reopen Jan. 4, Loera said. 

“We want our students to be successful and when basic needs aren’t met or students are worried about what they’re going to eat that day it’s hard to focus,” Loera said. “It’s hard to do what they came here to do, which is get an education and earn their degrees.”

Go-bags are available for pick up and delivery, Schilter said. The Center for Civic Engagement and Cougar Safe Rides help deliver the go-bags. 

There are designated staff members who put together go-bags for students, Schilter said. Go-bags are assembled by request, which can be filed on the office’s website. 

Students can also request items like safe-sex supplies and sanitary products for their go-bag, she said.

Community members can donate money online at WSU Pullman Food Pantries for Students Fund or drop off donations at the Office for Access and Opportunity, she said. 

“This is just one small effort to address the need. We’re always welcoming donations and people’s interest in it,” Loera said. “Encouraging students that needed it to access it, because it’s here for them.”

A representative from the Community Action Center will speak about food insecurity, energy assistance and Section 8 housing during a webinar from 3:30-4:30 p.m. Dec. 10. 

More information about food pantries available across the WSU system can be found on the Office of the Dean of Student’s website.