Temple University was founded in 1884 as a night school for working-class Philadelphians—a place where opportunity extended beyond privilege. More than a century later, as the largest public university in the nation’s poorest big city, Temple remains a powerful pathway to mobility.
But for far too many students, the barrier to graduation isn’t academic ability. It’s hunger.
According to our most recent Student Basic Needs Survey Report, 41% of students nationwide lack consistent access to adequate nutrition. At Temple, more than 36% of students reported experiencing food insecurity in 2024. And while federal programs like SNAP serve as a lifeline for some, eligibility restrictions, benefit disruptions, and recent federal cuts have left many students without reliable support.
The result? Students navigating lectures, labs, and exams while also budgeting for groceries and struggling to keep their refrigerators stocked up. That’s where the Barnett Irvine Cherry Pantry comes in.
Operating five days a week and serving roughly 750 students each week (sometimes more than 1,000 during times of disruption like last fall’s catastrophic SNAP cliff), the Cherry Pantry provides fresh produce, shelf-stable food, hygiene supplies, benefits navigation, and something just as essential: dignity. Run through community donations and powered by student leadership, it has become a cornerstone of care on campus.
This fall, the pantry will expand into the new, 26,000-square-foot Christopher and Julie Barnett Essential Needs Hub—a comprehensive center responding to a stark institutional reality: rising food pantry visits, increased disability and counseling requests, mounting financial holds, and a growing number of unhoused students whose basic needs challenges directly threaten their academic success and retention.
We sat down with Zoey Bunbury, Temple’s Essential Needs Coordinator and Temple alumna, to talk about what it takes to run a high-volume campus pantry, what students are facing right now, and why food insecurity doesn’t look the way most people think it does.
What is your role at the Cherry Pantry? What does a typical day at the pantry look like for you?
I stepped into my role as the essential needs coordinator right before the summer and by September, I was fully immersed in the position with the start of the new academic year bringing in more and more student traffic. My office is right inside the pantry so I get the privilege to oversee all operations and meet visitors as they come in. I supervise four paid student workers who provide logistical support, as well as a public health intern. What is especially gratifying about being in this role is the incredible amount of volunteer interest that the pantry has amassed—we have almost 100 active student volunteers who sign up to help stock the pantry, answer questions from our visitors, and support other day-to-day responsibilities.
We host students enrolled in social work degree programs to satisfy their practicum fieldwork requirements and others who use volunteering as an opportunity to fulfil eligibility criteria for receiving benefits through the Supplemental Nutritional Assistance Program. Most of our student workers start out as volunteers before transitioning into paid, part-time employment with us.
The Cherry Pantry’s journey has been one of adaptation and growth. We moved to our current, 900-square-feet space in the summer of 2024 but we’re already outgrowing it—we see around 750 students every week and the number keeps growing so we're excited to move to the Essential Needs Hub in the near future.
What kind of supports does the pantry offer and how can students access them?
Anybody that has an active TUID (Temple University Identification) can use the pantry—that includes students, staff and faculty.
We follow the client choice pantry system, which basically allows our patrons to “shop” as if they were in a grocery store. Each member of our Temple community receives 16 points per week, allowing them to shop for any unperishable pantry items within this allocation. We have labeled shelves, with some items like canned beans and other sides being worth one point each. Single-serve items like canned tuna, mac and cheese, and oatmeal are worth two points each. Other pantry staples that students can use to make multiple meals, like pasta, flour or a big bag of cereal, are worth three points each.
In addition, students have unlimited access to the pantry’s “zero-point” section, which includes perishables as well as personal hygiene products such as body wash, shampoo, conditioner, and toothbrushes. Parenting students can also access essential items like baby formula and diapers. Recently, the pantry received a donation of menstrual products, allowing students to take as many as they need. After selecting items, students check out using their Temple University ID through Pantrysoft, a pantry management system that tracks both points and visit frequency.
The pantry currently has three fridges and one freezer to store donations from local food access non-profits. We get weekly produce deliveries from Sharing Excess, an organization that rescues produce from wholesalers and retailers that would otherwise expire. We don’t institute any limits on how much produce students can take because we want to ensure that as many students as possible are able to use it before it goes bad.
We use our freezer to store any frozen meals we receive from Philabundance, a local food bank associated with Feeding America. We currently receive one delivery from them weekly—we’re looking to expand our partnerships with local food access non-profits once we have more space in the Essential Needs Hub.
The campus also has menstrual vending machines located right outside the pantry, as well as one one the second floor of the university library, where students can tap their ID twice a week to access up to 10 menstrual products—that can be two packages of pads with 5 pads each or they can mix and match between pads and tampons.
That’s not all—the Assistant Director of Student and Community Advocacy on our team guides students through the process of signing up for SNAP benefits and accessing other available community benefits and supports.
Speaking of SNAP, what was your experience like running the pantry like during last year’s lapse in its payments? Did you see a surge in students trying to access food?
We immediately saw an increase in Cherry Pantry users—the amount of visits we saw jumped to over 1000 weekly. Faced with both an influx of new users and more frequent visits from returning patrons, we raised the weekly points allowance from 16 to 20 in hopes of providing students with a few extra meals.
Several students also signed up to receive on-campus dining access through meal swipes which were made available through a partnership with our foodservice provider, Aramark. During this unprecedented situation, our community of volunteers and donors really stepped up to support us as we made plans for immediate action and adapted our workflows on the fly to accommodate the surge in demand.
The university’s president promptly issued a campus-wide call for urgent donations, encouraging the Temple community to give through the pantry’s Amazon wishlist. The response was swift and overwhelming, resulting in over $11,000 worth of food donations. While the food itself has long since been distributed, the remaining supplies still stored in our closet serve as a powerful reminder of what collective action can accomplish in moments of crisis. While I’m hoping that something like this never happens again, I look back at November as a learning opportunity to help us in developing better contingency plans for future emergencies.
It sounds like the pantry serves as an epicenter for the university community, particularly given how quickly you were able to mobilize support during that critical moment. Can you walk us through how you engage your network of volunteers and donors while also ensuring the pantry remains an inclusive, welcoming space for students in need?
We maintain a strong, relationship-based network of supporters across the Temple community and a sustained commitment to accessibility and inclusivity. Engagement with donors and volunteers occurs through multiple channels, including social media, newsletters, and direct outreach to academic departments and student organizations that have partnered with the pantry in the past. While the pantry maintains curated Amazon wish lists—particularly helpful for off-campus supporters such as parents or alumni—students are encouraged to donate in whatever way is most accessible to them, whether by purchasing items locally, contributing unused pantry staples from home, or delivering donations in person. These face-to-face contributions are especially meaningful, as they reinforce a sense of shared responsibility and community connection.
Departmental partnerships have played a particularly important role in sustaining our work at the Cherry Pantry. For example, the Social and Behavioral and Sciences Department and graduate students enrolled in the Masters in Public Health program supported the pantry’s Thanksgiving meal drive by donating cooking thermometers, baking pans, and educational materials on how to prepare a turkey—items that thoughtfully complemented food donations and empowered students to prepare meals safely and confidently. For us, it is paramount that students in need don’t just view the pantry as a place where they can turn to for accessing only one specific kind of support—we want them to feel included, supported and cared for so we really appreciated this gesture by the school. Similar outreach from departments and student organizations continues year-round, and while staffing limitations can occasionally affect the level of direct support the pantry can provide, we welcome all inquiries and try our best to respond to them swiftly.
Volunteer engagement follows a similarly community-centered model. Each semester, students are invited to sign up through announcements shared on Instagram and in the pantry’s newsletter. As I mentioned before, interest remains consistently high and we have a solid base of returning volunteers each semester. Volunteers typically commit one to two hours per week and are supported by paid student workers and interns who maintain a more consistent on-site presence and handle higher-level responsibilities. This layered staffing structure ensures that the pantry remains well-supported operationally while also creating leadership opportunities for students who take on greater responsibility.
At the same time, we try our best to cultivate a welcoming, judgment-free environment for students accessing food and other resources. Entry is intentionally simple—students, faculty and staff need only an active TUID to swipe in—and patrons are free to engage with the space in whatever way feels most comfortable to them. Volunteers are trained to greet each visitor warmly and offer assistance without pressure, helping to normalize pantry use and reduce stigma. Many volunteers actively support students by discussing meal ideas, suggesting ways to use pantry items together, or even quickly researching recipes when students ask what they can make with the food they select with their points. Recipe cards and other informational materials are also readily available for students to take at their discretion. Some students prefer to roam the space quietly while others are a lot more inquisitive—we try to meet them where they are without being overbearing.
By combining intentional outreach and responsive partnerships with an emphasis on dignity and choice, our pantry is much more than a food access point. It serves as a trusted, community-driven space where students can receive support, connect with others, learn about other available resources, and feel genuinely welcomed within the broader university ecosystem.
Have you noticed any trends in student demographics that are more likely to access the pantry?
I have noticed that students from all backgrounds, identities, and academic levels regularly access the space. Pantry use does not reflect a single demographic group; rather, it underscores the reality that food insecurity can affect anyone at different points in their academic journey.
With that being said, one group that the pantry consistently sees in high numbers is international students. Many international students face unique structural and financial constraints, including strict employment regulations that often limit them to on-campus work and restrict the number of hours they are permitted to work. When on-campus employment opportunities are limited or unavailable—and when these students are ineligible for many federal support programs available to domestic students—such restrictions can significantly affect their ability to meet basic living expenses, including food. In those circumstances, the pantry becomes an essential resource that helps bridge gaps in access and affordability. We partner closely with our Office of International Student Affairs to help reach these students and provide support.
Pantry use does not reflect a single demographic group; rather, it underscores the reality that food insecurity can affect anyone at different points in their academic journey.
Zoey Bunbury
Essential Needs Program Coordinator
Can you talk us through your plans of expansion as part of the Essential Needs Hub in the future?
For us, the Cherry Pantry’s expansion into the Essential Needs Hub represents a significant evolution in both scale and purpose, allowing the pantry to function as even more of a comprehensive and community-centered resource for students. The new space will be substantially larger and designed to integrate food access with opportunities for connection, education, and engagement.
In addition to the pantry itself, the hub will include dedicated seating areas, charging stations, and snack spaces, creating an environment where students can study, rest, or spend time between classes while accessing essential resources in a single, open setting.
A central component of the expansion is the development of spaces that support education and programming opportunities alongside food distribution. The hub will include a classroom, a space that accommodates up to 50 students and is already being used for programming adjacent to the future pantry location. This classroom will allow the pantry to expand its educational offerings, including workshops and resource-based programming focused on food access, nutrition, and essential needs. In addition, the future pantry will offer opportunities to provide education and skills designed to help students build confidence in preparing meals with pantry items.
Student leadership will remain central to the operation and vision of the expanded space. We expect interns and student workers to continue playing a key role in developing and facilitating programming, managing day-to-day operations, and conducting peer-to-peer outreach around food access and related resources. By positioning students as leaders within the pantry—rather than solely as users—the Essential Needs Hub aims to strengthen a sense of ownership and shared responsibility while fostering deeper connections among students.
The expanded space will allow the Cherry Pantry to move beyond a transactional model of food distribution and toward a more holistic approach that combines access, education, and community-building.
Zoey Burnbury
Essential Needs Hub Program Coordinator
While the larger scale of the Essential Needs Hub presents new logistical and staffing considerations, it also offers meaningful opportunities to strengthen our impact. The expanded space will allow the Cherry Pantry to move beyond a transactional model of food distribution and toward a more holistic approach that combines access, education, and community-building. Through this expansion, we hope to reinforce the pantry’s role as a cornerstone of care and support within the Temple community, meeting students’ immediate needs while also empowering them with knowledge, skills, and a sense of belonging to set them up for long-term success.
Phase One of the Essential Needs Hub is already operational, with the Office of Off Campus Living team present at the premises to support students trying to access housing within their budget and navigate leasing, as well as other staff members who help students apply for federal benefits like SNAP and WIC. The hub also distributes free clothing vouchers to eligible students to be redeemed at pop-up Temple Thrift events and houses the Temple CARE team that assists students with accessing emergency funds and other critical support services in times of immediate need. We are expecting Phase Two to be finished in Fall 2026, at which point the Essential Needs Hub and the revamped Cherry Pantry will be fully accessible to the Temple community.
Our new space for the Cherry Pantry will be around 3000 square feet, so it will be almost like managing an entire grocery store. I foresee some challenges and learning opportunities surfacing within such a large space but I’m excited to tackle them.
What do you wish people understood better about food insecurity?
I wish more people realized that food insecurity does not have a single, identifiable face. We often tend to narrowly associate hunger with specific populations or stereotypes, but in reality, it can affect anyone. Food insecurity is not limited to people of color, single parents, or individuals living in urban areas—it spans identities, roles, and circumstances, including college students, university staff, and working adults.
There is a common misconception that college students cannot be food insecure because they are able to afford the high cost of tuition. What this assumption overlooks is the wide range of financial barriers and circumstances students face. Many rely on Pell Grants, work multiple jobs, or save extensively from summer employment to cover the cost of a single semester. Others may have limited or inconsistent income, rising living expenses, or little financial support beyond tuition itself. The profile of today’s college student is continually evolving, and it no longer reflects a uniform level of socioeconomic stability.
Ultimately, food insecurity is not a reflection of personal failure, but of broader systemic challenges. I wish there was greater public understanding of how widespread and complex this issue is, and more recognition that anyone—regardless of appearance, role, or background—may experience food insecurity at some point in their life.
Zoey Bunbury
Essential Needs Hub Program Coordinator
Structural barriers also play a significant role. Wages have not kept pace with the rising cost of living, and access to public benefits is often far more restrictive than people realize. Eligibility requirements for programs such as SNAP can exclude many college students, particularly those who are unable to meet strict work-hour thresholds due to academic demands, caregiving responsibilities, or limited employment opportunities. As a result, students who are actively working toward their education may still find themselves unable to consistently afford food.
Ultimately, food insecurity is not a reflection of personal failure, but of broader systemic challenges. I wish there was greater public understanding of how widespread and complex this issue is, and more recognition that anyone—regardless of appearance, role, or background—may experience food insecurity at some point in their life. Attending college is not a reflection of one’s ability to afford a college education—several students make the choice between footing their tuition bills or feeding themselves daily.
Relevant Links:
- Subscribe to the Cherry Pantry Newsletter here.
- For questions and/or concerns, email the pantry at leganc+ryczrg+hqr.