The Pacer Pantry has partnered with Marywood Athletics in its new project “Pacer On The Go!” Begun this semester, the project provided snacks to the university athletic teams for their away games. So far, the project supplied food for both the men’s and women’s soccer teams, but the pantry hopes to expand its help to other Marywood sports teams once their seasons begin.
The pantry, located on the ground floor of Emmanuel Hall, opened in February of 2020 to combat the growing concern of food insecurity among college students. It is available to all Marywood students and staff on Mondays, Thursdays, and Fridays from 12:30 p.m.- 4:30 p.m. Items sponsored by the pantry can also be found in the Student Health Office. The pantry’s dedication to its mission earned Marywood the designation of a “Pennsylvania Hunger-Free Campus” by the Pennsylvania Department of Education.
Amy Fotta, the director of Community Service and Social Justice, is in charge of overseeing the day-to-day activities at the Pacer Pantry, along with Chloe Fishl, a Campus Ministry graduate assistant.
“Pacer Pantry is a great campus resource that offers all students, staff, and faculty with supplemental food when and if they need it,” said Fotta.
The Pacer On The Go project has been very well received. According to Fotta, the organizers recognized that athletes are managing very difficult schedules between academics, practice and competitions. It is because of this that their main goal has been to provide some aid to the athletes.
“We hope this project will help support them, and, of course, offer some healthy and fun snacks on the road,” said Fotta.
According to the men’s soccer coach, Matthew Guinto, the pantry’s goal has already been achieved. Guinto explained the Pacer Pantry started working with them a few games into their season, but instantly became a huge hit with the team.
“It went fantastically. Our guys were excited every time to find out that we had boxes of snacks to come aboard our away trips,” he said.
Commenting on the kinds of snacks the pantry gave the team, Guinto said, “They were able to provide us with a wide variety, from Cool Ranch Doritos, coaches’ favorite, to crackers to cereal boxes and bars, to healthier items like granola bars and Kind bars. It was just the type of small, simple snack that gave them a bit of something in their stomach, didn’t overfill them, and that gave them a bit of energy.”
Along with providing that little boost of energy, the snacks also helped to increase the team’s morale going into games.
“As we do our pre-departure pre-match chat in the Hall of Fame room, we would say to the guys ‘make sure we get the box of snacks from the office’ and they would be excited,” said Guinto.
Guinto hopes that this project continues to grow and spread to all the other Marywood sports teams as well.
“We as coaches appreciate so much one less thing we need to burden ourselves with ahead of an important match day or away trip,” he noted.
“Everyone on campus is eligible and welcome to use this resource, and we hope to see it continue to grow to support our campus community,” said Fotta.
Any student or club interested in getting involved with the Pacer Pantry can contact Chloe Fishl at [email protected]. Non-perishable donations are always accepted. For appointments outside of operating hours, contact the Pacer Pantry at [email protected]
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