After more than two years of offering twice-a-month pop-up food pantries, the Stanislaus State Stockton Campus has opened a brick-and-mortar Warrior Food Pantry stocked with an array of free food items, including fresh produce, refrigerated and frozen foods, and toiletries.
Open to all students currently enrolled at Stan State, the pantry is located in Room A1051 in the Acacia Court Building. It is open from 2-6 p.m. on Mondays, 1-3 p.m. on Tuesdays, 1-5 p.m. on Thursdays and by appointment with the Stockton Campus Basic Needs Lead Leticia Caballero, who can also help students with housing, care and financial security needs.
“We are a low-barrier service and very accessible to students, so the only thing students need to visit the pantry is their Warrior ID number,” said Jen Sturtevant, director of Basic Needs at the University. “If students don’t have their Warrior ID card, or if they need help getting their number, that’s OK. We can help them with that. They just need to be currently enrolled.”
Students can visit the pantry once a week and pick up as many as 10 items on each visit. The pantry is designed as a replica of the nearly 300-square-foot Warrior Food Pantry on the Turlock campus to ensure that all Stan State students receive an equitable experience regardless of where they attend classes.
As the pantry becomes established and visitation patterns become clear, pantry hours may be adjusted to better accommodate students’ hours, according to Caballero. She added that she also expects to adjust pantry offerings over time as students’ needs become apparent.
“Lately, we’ve noticed folks picking up packages of diapers that we were offering, so we recognize that is a need for students with children in their households,” Caballero said. “That is just one example of how we can tailor what we offer to our community.”
Caballero is establishing an online booking system to help students make appointments with her between the hours of 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. on weekdays. She can also be reached at (209) 513-9441 or through email.