Blog, Features
About Katie Martell
Executive Board Position: Secretary
Past Lion’s Pantry Experience: Volunteering!
Majors: Biology
Other 2023-2024 Involvement:
- Penn State Pre-Dental Society
- Penn State Biological Students Society
- Alpha Epsilon Delta
A Q&A with Katie
1) What are you most excited about The Lion’s Pantry this year?
- To meet new people and learn more about my role in mitigating food insecurity at Penn State.
2) What initiatives, campaigns, or goals would you like to see during the 2023-24 academic year?
- Food Drives
- Groups, such as Greek Life or sports teams, signing up for volunteering on weekends
- A 5K Food Drive!
3) Why should new students join The Lion’s Pantry?
- It’s a great place to meet new people and help out the community and university.
4) What does food insecurity mean to you?
- To me, it means not knowing when your next meal is. It is an important cause because many people struggle with it in silence and don’t always know what resources they have available to them.
5) What excites you most about the position you hold for The Lion’s Pantry during the 2023-24 year?
- Getting to work with like-minded individuals and people who want to help the community
6) Please share one of your favorite memories from The Lion’s Pantry.
- Volunteering with friends and looking forward to seeing them every weekend.
Some Fun Facts About Katie Martell
Favorite Comfort Movie: Pirates of the Caribbean
Favorite Way to Unwind After a Long Day: Netflix
“Go-To” Fun Fact: I am really good at cutting hair!
Blog, Features
About Colin Taylor
Executive Board Position: Treasurer
Past Lion’s Pantry Experience: Manager (2022-23)
Majors: Accounting
Minors: Information Systems Management
Other 2023-2024 Involvement:
A Q&A with Colin
1) What are you most excited about The Lion’s Pantry this year?
- I am excited to help grow the Pantry and spread awareness about it.
2) What initiatives, campaigns, or goals would you like to see during the 2023-24 academic year?
- I want to improve our data collection to inform us about popular food items and help improve the ordering process.
3) Why should new students join The Lion’s Pantry?
- The Lion’s Pantry is a great way to make a difference in the local community. Anyone who is a Penn State student can visit The Lion’s Pantry to grab some food. Volunteering is fun, and the work is pretty easy.
4) What does food insecurity mean to you?
- Food insecurity is common around the country, but it is especially high around colleges. Being able to help provide food to college students is important to me.
5) What excites you most about the position you hold for The Lion’s Pantry during the 2023-24 year?
- I am excited to work with the team to help improve the pantry. The Lion’s Pantry is relatively new and has been rapidly growing.
6) Please share one of your favorite memories from The Lion’s Pantry.
- One of the things I like about The Lion’s Pantry is meeting new people. Whether I make a connection with a pantry guest or a team member, I am always meeting someone new.
Some Fun Facts About Colin
Favorite Comfort TV Show: Curb your Enthusiasm
Favorite Way to Unwind After a Long Day: I like to play poker with my friends.
“Go-To” Fun Fact: I like to play tennis.
Blog, Features
About Juan-Rodrigo Solares
Executive Board Position: Vice President
Past Lion’s Pantry Experience: Pantry Manager & Cub Pantry Coordinator
Majors: Biochemistry & Molecular Biology
Minors: Microbiology
Other 2023-2024 Involvement:
- Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion Chair – Lion Ambassadors
- Millennium Scholar Program Tutor
- Undergraduate Researcher at Joyce Jose Lab
A Q&A with Rodrigo
1) What are you most excited about The Lion’s Pantry this year?
- I am very excited for all the amazing and new things that we will do this year. I think we have a great team, and I am very excited to be working on some new projects that we have been working on.
2) What initiatives, campaigns, or goals would you like to see during the 2023-24 academic year?
- I would like to see more food drives and more food insecurity awareness events. In my opinion, I think raising awareness is a very crucial thing, and I think that as an organization that focuses a lot on combatting the issue, we should also dedicate our time on educating people about the issue.
3) Why should new students join The Lion’s Pantry?
- The Lion’s Pantry is an amazing organization as it has a great mission: help students. You get to play a huge part on a resource that a lot of students on campus use, and ultimately, you are working for a great cause. You can also meet a lot of great people who have the same motivation and drive as you towards combatting food insecurity.
4) What does food insecurity mean to you?
- Food insecurity for me means a big issue. It is ultimately a lack of access to foods due to someone’s economic situation. As students, we have a heavy workload, and having the stress of not knowing when your next meal is going to come is ultimately a big burden. Combatting this issue is important as everyone deserves to have a healthy life, one where they have access to food and a healthy lifestyle.
5) What excites you most about the position you hold for The Lion’s Pantry during the 2023-24 year?
- For the 2023-2024 year, I will be the vice president of the organization. The thing that excites me the most is having the capability of joining and conducting different projects and initiatives while helping the president. Due to the flexibility of my position, I can also assist on multiple things and help the rest of the exec board. Having this ability of playing an important part in the organization is something that is very important for me.
6) Please share one of your favorite memories from The Lion’s Pantry.
- My favorite memories were the workdays we had last year. They were always a lot of fun, and it was very worthwhile seeing how organized the pantry became every Sunday after each workday. Knowing that the work we put in helped a lot of students during the last academic year made it more worthwhile.
Some Fun Facts About Rodrigo
Favorite Comfort Movie: Grey’s Anatomy
Favorite Way to Unwind After a Long Day: Reading a book, hanging out with friends, and drinking a something sweet
“Go-To” Fun Fact: My Go-To fact is that I used to do horseback riding.
