By: Julia Mertes, Communications Intern, The Lion’s Pantry
The Lion’s Pantry facility bustled with Penn State students, faculty and community members from 4-7 p.m. on Sept. 9 for the organization’s Fall Open House, which showcased recently completed summer renovations and the importance of the Pantry’s resources.
The Lion’s Pantry facility on Big Hollow Rd. underwent renovations over the summer to install refrigeration and freezer units, which will allow The Pantry to slowly phase in perishable food items.
Besides observing the updated facility, visitors also had the opportunity to interact with The Lion’s Pantry Student Executive Team and learn more about food insecurity on Penn State’s campus.
Taylor Dorsett, president of The Lion’s Pantry and a senior in biobehavioral health, said she’s “honored” to lead “such an important cause” that supports those in the Penn State community who need food and household products.
“I see the Open House as a celebration for both our organization’s members and supporters to see the new and improved Lion’s Pantry in all its glory,” Dorsett said.
Dorsett said she’s enjoyed seeing The Lion’s Pantry transform over the years into what it is today and looks forward to seeing how The Pantry grows in the future.
“It’s so refreshing to see The Pantry’s growth since I joined in 2020,” Dorsett said. “I’m so proud of us and the fact that we can now provide better food options and help more clients.”
She said she hopes the Open House exposes new groups and community members to The Lion’s Pantry and the services offered.
“The Lion’s Pantry is really a hidden gem at Penn State’s University Park [campus],” Dorsett said. “We are dedicated to addressing and mitigating food insecurity, and we can’t do that without establishing a strong sense of community.”
She said The Lion’s Pantry receives “a significant portion” of its donations from community members, and all of the products go directly to Penn State students with a university-issued ID.
In the days preceding the event, Dorsett said she most looked forward to socializing with The Pantry’s clients and supporters.
“The most challenging part has been containing my excitement,” Dorsett said. “Our Associate Director Heide Gibson has done an amazing job coordinating this event, and I’m sure it will be a hit.”
In terms of goals for The Lion’s Pantry Fall Open House, Dorsett said she hoped for at least 100 people to attend and for those individuals to consider bringing a donation and a friend with them to learn more about The Pantry and its mission.
Members of The Lion’s Pantry Executive Team gather together in the first hour of The Open House to celebrate the event. Community members talked to Lion’s Pantry members throughout the night to learn about the facility, recent renovations, food insecurity, and the Pantry’s operations. Photo by Heide Gibson.
Samantha Powell, secretary of The Lion’s Pantry, said she hopes the event makes people more aware about the club and its mission as well as informs students about the resources they can utilize while living in State College.
“The Lion’s Pantry Open House marks the beginning of the school year for the club for me,” Powell (sophomore-economics) said. “It’s also a welcome to all of The Lion’s Pantry’s clients and the general community. It is exciting for people to come [and] see the work that the club has been doing over the summer as well as the hard work of all of those who came before us that led us to this [renovation project].”
She said the Open House provides an opportunity for dialogue about the issue of food insecurity on campus, which is a topic she fails to see discussed enough.
Powell said she urges new students to join The Lion’s Pantry because it’s not just “filled with terrific people,” but the club also provides members with the opportunity to directly contribute to the Penn State community.
She said she’s excited for the community to see the recent renovations that “clean up the space” and create a “welcoming new environment” for visitors.
Ellie Sheehan, facility coordinator of The Lion’s Pantry, said she’s “grateful” for The Lion’s Pantry renovations that will allow for expanded services and opportunities in the future.
“I view The Lion’s Pantry Open House as an opportunity for the Penn State community to become familiar with the location [and] all of the individuals who work for the Pantry,” Sheehan (sophomore-marketing) said. “My hope is that more Penn State students and community members will know [how] to get the resources they are in need of.”
Sheehan said she’s excited to serve clients in the newly renovated facility and hopes to work with new volunteers who desire to mitigate food insecurity within the community.
She said she hopes community members feel more comfortable approaching Lion’s Pantry members after the event with questions and ideas.
Heide Gibson, associate director of The Lion’s Pantry, said she hoped the event “made the community excited to support” The Lion’s Pantry and “showed guests how much the community cares about them.”
“It’s amazing to know that the community is willing to support us in some way with whatever requests we make,” Gibson said.
Gibson said she hopes the event helps to break the stigma associated with food insecurity and increases the amount of community support, which would also prompt continued growth of Pantry resources and offerings.
The Lion’s Pantry welcomes students to see the renovated facility. One of the primary goals of the Open House was to provide students and community members with increased awareness about the prevalence of food insecurity at Penn State’s University Park campus. Photo by Julia Mertes.
“The Pantry is student-founded, student-run, and student-led—everything you see when you come into The Pantry or when you use it is because students care and made it happen,” Gibson said. “The students have a lot to be proud of. They have brought this movement, this project, to [fruition].”
Gibson said offering guests a “shopping experience” at The Pantry is “incredibly” important to her because she hopes to give visitors the “utmost respect and dignity,” especially by providing a comparable market environment to a regular grocery store.
“The Open House means to me that the next generation—this generation of students that are running The Pantry—are able to increase awareness and increase the amount of help that we’re able to offer to the Penn State community,” Gibson said. “We’re also able to continue reducing the stigma by having a more professional [and] warm market style in The Pantry.”
Elizabeth Sweeten, a first-year law student at Penn State, said she came to the Open House after hearing about The Lion’s Pantry in the university-distributed emails and finding interest in the organization.
“It’s my first time being inside The Pantry, and it’s really nice,” Sweeten said. “I think it’s great that we have The Pantry here. It’s a great resource, and I’m actually surprised that it’s not utilized more by the students.”
Vishnu Kumar, an industrial engineering graduate student at Penn State, said The Pantry resources provide students with “one thing less they need to worry about when they’re studying for school and doing their homework.”
“It’s a good initiative that Penn State and The Pantry members are all doing because I know with the [coronavirus pandemic], many people are having a lot of challenges,” Kumar said. “Getting groceries that are affordable might be challenging for some people, so I’m glad this initiative or option is a solution to that.”
After seeing The Pantry for the first time, Kumar said he’d love to continue seeing it grow and expand its resources “into a much bigger venture” that’s able to “reach even more students, especially the students who don’t know that these resources exist on campus.”
“Some people actually waste food, but if they have a surplus, it would be great for them to come here and donate the items,” Kumar said. “It’s about sharing whatever you have with others and working together to have a good student experience at Penn State.”
Lion’s Pantry President Taylor Dorsett, Secretary Samantha Powell, and Ambassador Emily Heath discuss the event and await more guests to welcome to the facility. Guests were provided a tour around the facility, light refreshments, and engaging conversations upon their arrival. Photo by Julia Mertes.
Student Emily Heath joined The Lion’s Pantry Ambassadors this semester and looks forward to helping run the facility during open hours as well as coordinating food drives and raising awareness for food insecurity.
“I helped out with a few of the local food pantries back home, and I didn’t know about The Lion’s Pantry until the end of last semester,” Heath (junior-biology) said. “So, I thought it would be a great opportunity to volunteer and help the community, which is something I really like to do.”
Heath said the Open House has been her first opportunity to see the renovated Pantry, which described as looking “really clean” and “really nice.”
“I’ve been on campus for two years and didn’t know about The Pantry,” Heath said. “So, it’s great that we’re getting the word out there that this is an option for people.”
Victor Frolenko, a biobehavioral health student preparing for medical school, said he’s “thought about coming to the Pantry a few times, but the Open House was what really got him to the facility” to learn about the provided resources.
Although Frolenko said he came to the Open House for a class that offered extra credit for attendance, he said the visit caused him to “realize that it’s a really good community resource for anyone in need,” especially for students struggling with the costs of tuition and other expenditures.
“Everyone should come here if they need help,” Frolenko said.
“I know a lot of students who need help, but they don’t know about this resource—one that is readily available to support them. It made a bit of an impact on me seeing how much Penn State cares about other students.”
