Campus Cupboard Receives Donations

Written by Meah Copeland, Sports Editor|March 11, 2021

Riley Kliethermes is a student worker for the Campus Cupboard. “We don’t discriminate about who comes here, I think that there’s a lot of stigma to it but we’re here to provide for people,” Kliethermes, senior biology major said. “We don’t care what your background is, just come here and get your food because you’re basically paying it with your tuition so you should come here and take an advantage of it.” (Photo by Meah Copeland)

  The Campus Cupboard received $300 from Kappa Delta Pi National Honor Society on Jan. 27 and $1,000 from Sodexo food company on Feb. 3. These donations can pay for approximately 1,200 pounds of food, which can benefit over 300 students each month because each person is allowed to get ten items a week. 

  A graduate student who has been working at the Campus Cupboard, McKenzie Keilholz, said she is thankful for all of the volunteers’ help at the Campus Cupboard. 

  Spring 2021 is the first semester that Keilholz has worked for the Campus Cupboard. She was a teaching graduate assistant in the kinesiology department but decided to resign.

  “I like working with the Campus Cupboard because it helps a lot of people, and it is a fulfilling job to be able to provide food for people who need it,” Keilholz said. “It is also a good environment to work for.”

  The Campus Cupboard gets their non-perishable food from a local harvester from the Kansas City area, Walmart, ALDI and some Warrensburg residents. Keilholz said most of the time, it’s students and some faculty that utilize the Campus Cupboard.

  Sodexo Resident District Manager Justin Dreslinski explained Sodexo’s donation came from a grant. 

  “The Sodexo Stop Hunger Foundation donates money each year to individual counts like the University of Central Missouri food service; we can submit a request for grants,” Dreslinski said. “The Sodexo company has been submitting grant requests and receiving grants for the Campus Cupboard for several years.”

Junior social work major Gracie Smith utilizes the Campus Cupboard once because it helps herself and other students financially. “With the dining halls closing at different times, it probably gives them the chance to get food at any point,” Smith said. “I think that it’s a great way for students to be able to get fresh produce other than having to go to Walmart, especially if they don’t have a car here. It’s a great opportunity for us.” (Photo by Meah Copeland)

  The Sodexo company has been submitting an application for the grant for six years. The first request was submitted in in 2013. Then, there was a four year gap for the requests before they started up again in 2017. Since then, it has been submitted yearly. 

  The Stop Hunger Foundation aims to help children to get enough nutritious food to allow them to lead a healthy and productive life. 

  “It makes me feel warm and fuzzy inside knowing that we are giving to students that are in need, especially in these pandemic times,” Dreslinski said. 

  Sodexo was not the only campus organization giving back to the community and the Campus Cupboard. 

  KDP Vice President Elizabeth Cochran helped with their t-shirt fundraiser, which raised the $300 donated. Cochran said KDP wanted to get their word out about their organization and give back to the community through the t-shirt fundraiser. 

  Cochran said donating the money to the Campus Cupboard meant that KDP are all in this together because of how difficult COVID-19 has been.

  “It makes me feel very grateful that we were able to give back to them and help them by donating anything, no matter what it was,” Cochran said. “We are able to come together and come together as a community.”