A Pantry, a Congregation, and 1,380+ Visits

Meeting a Need in Northgate

The pantry welcomes undergraduate and graduate students from Texas A&M, Rellis, and Blinn. About 260 individual students have visited the pantry since February, including many international students navigating not only the demands of college and graduate school, but also life thousands of miles from home and familiar support systems.

Those numbers tell us something important. There was a need in Northgate and the people of A&M United Methodist showed up to meet it.

A Mission Built by the Congregation

Before opening the pantry, church members spent months listening and learning. They met with local food pantries, community organizations, Texas A&M and Blinn student services, other campus ministries, and people already doing this work. They attended community meetings, volunteered at food distributions, and researched student food insecurity.

What they learned helped clarify the opportunity directly outside our doors. Northgate sits within one of five food deserts in Bryan-College Station. Many students do not have cars to reach food resources farther from campus, and existing programs can have eligibility requirements, appointment systems, limited hours, or other restrictions.

Texas A&M and community organizations already provide important resources for students experiencing food insecurity. Our pantry supplements those resources and isn't intended to replace or compete with them.

A&M UMC happens to have something especially valuable to contribute: our location.

We're directly across from campus, accessible by bus, bike, and foot, in the middle of a neighborhood where thousands of students live.

“After learning that about 1 in 3 college students experiences food insecurity, we heard God’s call to minister to the student population mere steps from our front door,” said Jennifer Mabe. “As in Isaiah, our church was compelled to answer, ‘Here am I. Send me!’ It was easy for the Congregation to see that our Northgate location is in an epicenter of student activity, easily accessible from campus and on the bus route, and they responded generously.”

“It’s amazing the difference a simple can opener or kind word makes in a student’s life and our church is here for it,” Jennifer added.

More Than a Box of Food

From the beginning, the pantry was designed as a choice pantry. Students “shop” rather than receive a prepacked box of food. Allowing students to choose what they will actually eat provides dignity and autonomy while reducing waste.

For example, a student from another country may cook with different ingredients than a student who grew up in Texas. Someone living in a small apartment may have different needs than someone sharing a kitchen with roommates. Dietary restrictions, cultural preferences, available cooking equipment, and household size all matter.

It also gives volunteers something equally important: time with people.

Only a few students shop at a time, allowing volunteers to welcome them, talk with them, answer questions, and build relationships. Volunteers also spend time with students waiting to enter and help with refrigerated and frozen selections. This is hands-on mission work: meeting a physical need while treating every person who walks through the doors as a neighbor.

The College Student Pantry’s Impact So Far

This ministry exists because people at A&M UMC decided it should. When the congregation first heard the vision and its estimated $10,000 startup cost last fall, members responded with approximately $35,000 in a single day. That generosity allowed the pantry to begin its work without drawing from existing ministry budgets. 

And the support hasn't stopped. Members have volunteered, stocked shelves, shopped, packed bags, donated food, offered financial support, and prayed for the ministry. In May, the congregation donated 145 pounds of food and in June, donations grew to 850 pounds. Some of that increase came through a generous new partnership with Esther Miranda of Sweet Oak Collaborative, which has provided regular produce donations. 

Other community partners have stepped forward, too. From blankets made by our Mission Stitchers’ and Liz Crompton, to cases of toothpaste from College Station dentist, Dr. Stephen Wright, and Spice World Market preparing pantry staples such as rice, lentils, and fish in sizes that work for individual students.

The pantry is becoming exactly what its organizers hoped it could be: a lay-led mission of A&M UMC, strengthened by relationships throughout the community.

It is important, too, to distinguish the pantry from our College Ministry. While college students are the people it serves, the Student Food Pantry is a mission of the congregation. Its work is powered largely by lay volunteers and exists alongside, not within, our programs for college students.

“After being a member for only a few short years, it is great to get to know and work alongside such giving and caring people who show up at the pantry,” said Steve Crichton. “We are reaching out just as Jesus asked us to do in Matthew 25: 31-40 by serving those who have a need. 

“We are doing this with our gifts, our time, our talents, our witness, and our service,” Steve added. 

Volunteer and Dollar Giving in September 

The pantry's success creates another opportunity: more people can be part of it. You don't have to commit to every Tuesday or Sunday, and working directly with students isn't the only way to help. 

Volunteer with the Student Pantry

Volunteers are needed to serve in the pantry, help students shop, stock shelves, purchase needed items, prepare bags, assist with outreach and communications, and support the many behind-the-scenes tasks that keep the pantry running.

You can also continue filling the purple bags with food donations each month.

And throughout September, our Dollar Giving during worship services will benefit the Student Food Pantry, providing another simple way for everyone in the congregation to participate.