By Gerrit Goodwin
Photos by Bogdan Sierra Miranda/The Collegian
T-shirts supporting the food pantry will go on sale 11 a.m.-3 p.m. May 4-5.
NE student Manav Lamichhane said he came up with the idea to sell T-shirts while he was thinking of ways to help spread awareness for the food pantry in NCAB 1136A.
“At one time, our shelves were getting sparse, and we weren’t getting as many donations as we needed, so I thought selling T-shirts would help us spread awareness and help us raise money,” he said. “We wanted to have a backup plan and to not have to rely 100 percent on donations so we can still serve students if donations ever slow.”
Student worker Joshua Timmons said he has worked at the food pantry for two and a half months and has seen growth in the way the pantry is organized and in the number of students who actually use it.
“I like this job because it feels like I am really helping people. In a day, we get in between five to 10 students who use the pantry,” he said. “I really think the T-shirts will help spread awareness, especially when students see other students and faculty members wearing the shirts.”
NE food bank coordinator and sociology instructor Cheryl North said the money from the T-shirt sales would go directly to support the food pantry.
“It can be used to purchase critical needs food items or to, at some point, expand our operation to address additional needs,” she said. “Some ideas that have been discussed include the possible purchase of a freezer in the future.”
North said currently she has 75 shirts, but based on the response from students and faculty, they may order more.
Shirts will be sold for $10 each, sizes XXL and XXXL will be an additional $2.
