Guiding Values

Compassion

● We will be respectful and responsive to all who come seeking food or assistance, and serve them with care and sensitivity.

● We will value and protect guests’ privacy and ensure a safe environment for guests, staff, and volunteers.

● We will honor guests’ dignity by offering usable, nutritious food and distributing it in a convenient and equitable manner.

Resourcefulness

● We bring our full resources to bear on the problem of hunger and collaborate with other agencies to best serve our guests.

● We are committed to providing quality, healthy food in the most cost-effective manner

● We will be well-managed, sustainable, and a good steward of resources.

● We will ensure that we have the expertise to be effective.

● We are committed to learning and growing.

Confidentiality

● We deliberately ask for as little identifying information as possible about our guests—name, number of people in their family, phone number, and email so that we can contact them about food pickup and put them on an email mailing list for the electronic order form. Number of people in the family is important so we know how many people we’re actually helping (for our records and also for grant purposes).

● What you hear in the pantry stays in the pantry without explicit permission to share (e.g. to connect students willing to share information with another for a particular need, for publicity purposes, etc.)

Mission

The mission of The Pantry at SUNY Ulster (Ulster County Community College) is to provide food and household necessities at no charge to students, staff, faculty, and their families to relieve food insecurity, support good nutrition and improve academic success, and to do so within a respectful and supportive environment. The Pantry offers a constant supply of nonperishable foods as well as fresh produce, dairy and eggs whenever possible. Diapers, period products and cleaning supplies are always available. An assortment of donated items is also provided. Guests may place an online order during the weekend prior to each distribution, or may fill an order form in person at the time of distribution. In non COVID times we offer nonperishable food and various items from donations weekly. Volunteers talk with students and fill orders. There's safety, privacy, and encouragement. Ordering is done online, with food distributed at Kingston and on campus.

History

The Pantry at Ulster began in 2016 when a former faculty member who was also a parishioner at St. Andrew’s recognized the dire financial straits of many SUNY Ulster students. Each semester we serve a few more students, including veterans. In Spring, 2020 we expanded to serve women in the New Start for Women program, based at the Kingston Center of SUNY Ulster. Our primary target population is students at SUNY Ulster, although some adjunct faculty and some staff have been guests as well. The program is limited to SUNY Ulster students, faculty and staff. There are approximately 3500 students enrolled, 19% over 25 years of age. Many students are supporting their multigenerational families--our average household size is three people.

By providing food and household necessities to students (and staff) at SUNY Ulster, The Pantry meets critical needs throughout Ulster County, where most students live and will continue to live after graduation. It relieves stress at home, stretches household income, and improves the circumstances of families in Ulster County.