Salt Lake Community College’s Social Work Club thrives on making a difference in the community, such as with their latest project of creating a food pantry for SLCC students, faculty and staff.
For a club with only six formal members, starting a food pantry could be quite a large task, but members of the Social Work Club are used to taking on big challenges with small numbers.
“We are pushing for a food pantry for the school. We are well on our way,” said Justin Duncan, Vice President of the Social Work club.
Duncan is particularly excited about the pantry’s tie-in to the South City Campus renovations.
“I specifically have worked with Mailin Francis, the master architect of the South City Campus renovations,” Duncan said. “It won’t be some closet in some campus that gets moved around and forgotten. It is actually built into the school.
The size of this pantry is also significant. At 150 square feet, it will be about the size of an average bedroom.
Even at this size, the space is not appropriate for refrigeration, which is the requirement for a space to be designated a “food bank.” As a food pantry, storage will be limited to non-perishable items such as pasta, oatmeal, rice, cereals and dehydrated foods.
“Opportunity to volunteer”
This pantry will provide service not only to students, but SLCC faculty and staff. According to the Utah Food Bank, one in four Utahns and one in eight Utah children live in poverty, and one in seven Utah children are at risk for hunger.
Knowing that the need spreads beyond the students, the members of the Social Work Club wanted to open it up to everyone at SLCC who is in need.
In order to boost their club numbers, Social Work Club members have started to visit all the SW 1010 (Intro to Social Work) classes to spread the word about their club.
“We want them to not only know about the club but have the opportunity to volunteer,” said Duncan.
Any students who are interested in the SLCC Social Work Club can visit them on Facebook or attend one of their meetings.
Club meetings are held every Monday at 3:00 p.m. in the Senate Chamber of the Taylorsville Redwood Campus Student Center.
