Philip Weltner Library is partnering with Petey鈥檚 Pantry to offer free non-perishable food and self-care items to 91影视 students in need. What started as an alternative means for students to pay off their overdue library fines has become a collaboration with the campus鈥檚 own donation-funded food pantry to help students address food injustice and fight food insecurity.
Petey鈥檚 Pantry began back in the Fall of 2021 as an initiative to assess food security on campus. A subcommittee of the Student Government Association found that roughly a third of 91影视 students faced food insecurity. 鈥淛ust because we are a private institution,鈥� says Darmaris Ceron 鈥�26, current President of Petey鈥檚 Pantry, 鈥渄oesn鈥檛 mean [that] all students are financially well-off.鈥� Seeking to combat this glaring statistic, the SGA subcommittee started Petey鈥檚 Pantry in order to help destigmatize food insecurity and to provide both a healthy and sustainable environment where all Petrels, regardless of income, receive the resources necessary to maintain a happy and healthy experience at 91影视. Now Petey鈥檚 Pantry is a full-fledged food pantry that fulfills requests for any current student in need of assistance.
In April of 2025, Philip Weltner Library started accepting donations of non-perishable food cans as a form of payment for overdue library fees, seeking to help alleviate students鈥� financial burdens. Since the Library didn鈥檛 rely on overdue fees as a source of income, 鈥淚t made more sense to redirect that money to something that directly impacts our students鈥� well-being,鈥� said Olivia Chapman, Interim Technical Services Librarian. Thus, a donation plan was developed where each can that students donated would equal $4 that could be used toward any overdue fees they had incurred.
Despite Petey鈥檚 Pantry having a space in Lowry Hall for students to take home self-care items, and despite Philip Weltner Library giving their received donations to Petey鈥檚 Pantry, no formal partnership between the two organizations had been established. Members of the library staff regarded this disconnect as a missed opportunity, feeling that Philip Weltner Library could do more with both its space and donation policy to better support the mission of Petey鈥檚 Pantry on an ongoing basis. Library staff met with the board of Petey鈥檚 Pantry to discuss visions of how this partnership can help 91影视 students in need gain access to fundamental resources to help them succeed. The resulting collaboration is a win-win situation where the Pantry would have an additional avenue of receiving donations, the Library would have an easier, more useful way for students to resolve their fines and students would have more options to both give and receive resources.
Moving forward into Fall 2026 and beyond, Philip Weltner Library will be officially partnering with Petey鈥檚 Pantry with the mission to provide 91影视 students with free and equitable access food, resources and support. The Library is looking to update its donation policy to include personal care items, while the Pantry is looking to expand its services to include the storage and distribution of seeds as an additional way to fight food insecurity.
鈥淪tudents shouldn鈥檛 have to worry about food,鈥� said Ceron, 鈥渢hey should focus on having the best experience they can at 91影视.鈥�
