Student worker Jamesha Rhodes, graduate student, from Louisville, Ky., stocks the pantry.
Murray State has partnered with Need Line of Murray-Calloway County to create Racers Helping Racers.
The program was implemented to assist students on campus meet their nutritional needs.
The food pantry is open to all students at Murray State, not only students who live on campus. Racers Helping Racers is located on the second floor of Blackburn Science Building.
The food pantry is open Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m.
The idea was created at a conference led by universities who already have food pantries on their campuses.
“Racers Helping Racers was a vision about two and a half years ago; I was at a conference and a session was about food pantries on university’s campuses, and I felt like that was going to be best for our campus,” said Re’Nita Avery-Meriwether, director of the Curris Center and Student Life, and founder of Racers Helping Racers. “A lot of students are working one to two jobs and trying to support themselves and go to school. Studies show that students barely have enough money for food,” Avery-Meriwether said.
Jamesha Rhodes, student worker and graduate student from Louisville, Ky., said she believes Racers Helping Racers has the potential to help, but there are not many people coming in each week.
“Many people are hearing about it from their friends or by word of mouth so that is bringing a few more people in,” Rhodes said.
On average, approximately 20 to 25 people use the food pantry weekly.
“We seem to be getting busier every week as students are becoming more and more aware of the hours they (Racers Helping Racers) are working and their current situations,” Avery-Meriwether said.
Donations for Racers Helping Racers must be donated to Need Line. From there, the food is given to the Racers Helping Racers program.
They are always looking for peanut butter, macaroni and cheese, juices and canned foods. Student organizations donate canned goods and other non-parishable food items to the pantry.
Only food products are being taken at this point.
Story by Brittany Risko, Staff writer