Cardinal Cupboard Serves a Growing Need as it Battles Food Insecurity

Students on campus and off who grapple with not having enough to eat or having to choose between buying food or their own personal care products can find help at the Cardinal Cupboard.

The SUNY Plattsburgh food-and-supplies pantry has come a long way from when it was in a coat closet in Student Support Services in the Angell College Center. As students’ needs evolved, so, too, has the pantry. Even the word “pantry” doesn’t do it justice anymore.

Today, Cardinal Cupboard is a fully stocked market where those who need it can “shop” shelves containing canned goods, cereal and other boxed foods, fruit, spices and cooking supplies, condiments, protein foods, home cleaning and personal hygiene products as well as refrigerated and frozen foods in the cupboard’s two refrigerators and one upright freezer.

Erin Cincotta, services and engagement specialist and interim Cardinal Cupboard coordinator in access and opportunity programs, said the cupboard works with a budget that allows them to keep the space consistently stocked with items students need or have expressed an interest in.

Carries the Staples Needed

She said they place orders once or twice a week depending on urgency.

“We just did a massive restock,” she said. “We have all the staples needed for students to come in and do orders.”

Cincotta said orders average 20-25 items. Students go online, submit their order and stop by the cupboard, located in the corner of Burghy’s Den adjacent to Halal.

“We’ve been able to expand our offerings to personal items — shampoo, conditioner, body wash, toothbrushes and toothpaste,” she said. “We’ve also stocked some multicultural products. There’s a huge demand on campus. There’s also been a demand for multicultural spices. Students have come to us and said, ‘This is something we use at home.’ If it’s available, we’ll order it.”

They also receive donated products from companies such as Panera, which provides bread. Cincotta said they also try to keep a selection of gluten-free items on hand such as bread and pancake mix.

Things They Like

“If we have a need, we’ll try to look into expanding that section,” she said. “We try to stay on the healthier side, but we also offer cup mac and cheese for instance, because they’re college students and that’s one of the things they like.”

The cupboard has a free kitchenware corner where students needing pots and pans, glassware or silverware can come in and see what’s available.

“We don’t have to do a lot of can drives, but if anyone has good, clean pots and pans, etc., we gave a need,” Cincotta said. They also need good can openers because of the volume of canned goods offered.

“Most don’t come with pull tabs,” she said. And because they have refrigerators, they offer dairy products so students can make the mac and cheese or other foods requiring butter, milk or eggs.

“We also offer oak and almond milk as alternatives to dairy,” she said. “We want students to enjoy things. The days of the hungry college student are over. Students shouldn’t be hungry. It’s well-documented that being well-fed is a main contributor to succeeding.”

With the rising costs for tuition, room and board on campus and rental units and food prices off, students are often forced to choose the least expensive meal plan, which often doesn’t stretch from week to week, month to month. As a result, they have to turn to alternatives like Cardinal Cupboard, Cincotta said.

Ramen noodles continue to be one of the most popular items in the cupboard among students. Other items include:

• Corn, tomato paste, potatoes, mixed vegetables and carrots are the top canned and frozen vegetables
• Ketchup, marinara and alfredo sauce
• Laundry detergent, toilet paper, dish and hand soap are top requested toiletries and self-care items
• Vegetarian items are the most requested dietary need
• Peanut butter, tuna fish, Spam, chickpeas and tofu are top requested proteins

This year, Cardinal Cupboard will be providing a limited number of pre-made Thanksgiving meals, available on a first-come, first-serve basis, Cincotta said.

And although donations of shelf product are appreciated, especially personal-care items, monetary donations go a lot further toward getting students what they want, she said. And the numbers confirm the need.

In the month of September, Cardinal Cupboard served 112 students, filling 185 orders, which was an increase of nearly 26 percent over last September. October had 86 students with 144 orders, up by close to 110 percent from last October.

Need is Great

“The need is there, and it’s great,” Cincotta said.

While Cincotta oversees the operation, she gives credit where it’s due.

“I have a great student staff working there,” she said. “I couldn’t do this without them. They’re literally holding down the fort. We have two Empire Service Corps students and three social work interns. They’re all getting good experience working with food insecurity.”

The Cardinal Cupboard is open to all SUNY Plattsburgh students. Run similar to ordering from a grocery store, students register online by visiting https://www.plattsburgh.edu/plattslife/student-support/cardinal-cupboard.html.

Once registered, the form takes you to a listing of foods and products that users then order. The “grocery cart” is then bagged by student workers. Shoppers schedule a day and time they plan to stop by to pick up their orders. Cardinal Cupboard is open Monday, Wednesday and Friday from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m., and Thursday and Friday from 2 to 6 p.m. They’re closed Saturday and Sunday.

For more information, contact Cincotta at the Office of Access and Opportunity Programs, 518-564-2810 or email [email protected].

— Story, Photos by Associate Director of Communications Gerianne Downs