University of Massachusetts Dartmouth staff have taken over a student-run food pantry to better provide services for students, faculty, and staff struggling with food insecurity.

Scholarship students had operated an off-campus food pantry and on-campus satellite — called Students Helping Students — for three years before the university’s Student Affairs office and religion center decided to take on the responsibility this year.

“It was an awful lot to ask of students,” said Associate Dean of Students Shelly Metivier Scott, who also coordinates food pantry staff alongside Deacon Frank Lucca. “Although they did a wonderful job, we wanted to continue it with the professional staff.”

The student-faculty team plans to breath new life into the renamed and relocated Arnie’s Cupboard. Since the pantry officially opened in the Campus Center on October 31, Scott said the food pantry has been used regularly, however she has recruited the university’s Center for Marketing Research to look into the specific needs of students and staff. She is currently waiting for that analysis.

“We have activity and it’s been pretty consistent, and that’s before we even marketed everything,” Scott said.

Currently, the only promotion so far has been posters and signage including directions. However, the pantry’s student coordinator, Maurice Cyr, is planning a media blitz to better inform students. This will include a photo shoot with the university's mascot, a new logo, and a video guiding students to the Cupboard's location.

Cyr — who previously worked at Bristol Community College’s Mobile Food Market while he was a student there — also plans to work with student organizations to solicit volunteers and host cooking demonstrations. Already, he has enough volunteers to keep the pantry open every Monday through Friday, 4–6 p.m.

“I put a call out to student clubs and organizations, and the response I got was tremendous,” Cyr said. “Within two weeks I had at least one person on every shift.”

Cyr said it’s easy for students, especially those paying for their college education without assistance, to fall into a financial trap. Those students need jobs to fund their education, which requires a car, insurance, and gasoline, and that’s on top of tuition and other living expenses, said Cyr, explaining that nutrition often takes a back seat.

“It’s a tough choice to make,” Cyr said. “A lot of students make sacrifices, but there are long-term health impacts of malnutrition.”

Cyr said the Cupboard has already helped 20 students in the two weeks it has been open, but his big hope is that it also reduces the stigma of asking for help with food insecurity.

The pantry runs off of donations. For more information, visit umassd.edu/arniescupboard or email foodpantry@umassd.edu.