The food pantries at UT San Antonio have so far this year served more than 24,100 shoppers — about 800 students a week.
That’s more than 89,000 pounds of free food in 10 months at the university’s Main and Downtown campuses.
Whether it’s a single snack, a microwaveable lunch or something heartier for dinner at home, the university’s Roadrunner Pantries and Whataburger Resource Room are providing indispensable support for students.
The Main Campus pantry was the first to open in 2017 followed by the Downtown Campus location in 2020. Since then, the two pantries have served more than 102,000 shoppers to date, providing non-perishable foods like peanut butter and also fresh produce, canned meats and vegetables, pasta, soup and toiletries.
With greater awareness of the program came an increase in demand, said Zachary Marcotte, program manager at the Whataburger Resource Room.
Much of the food supplied to the pantries comes from the San Antonio Food Bank.
“We receive easily over 5,000 pounds of food a week from the local food bank, who have an awesome deal called retail route,” Marcotte said. “Through this program, we get food and other goods from companies like H-E-B, Target and Starbucks.”
The pastries and sandwiches from the popular coffee purveyor “go fast,” he said.
Keeping shelves stocked
Support for the pantries also comes from generous donors in the community.
In January, local philanthropist and longtime supporter Harvey Najim donated $1.25 million to the San Antonio Food Bank to fight food insecurity across UT San Antonio campuses over 10 years.
“Najim’s gift is a big help,” Marcotte said. “It’s helped in so many ways from keeping our shelves stocked to raising additional awareness about the pantry, which helps reduce stigma and gets food to people struggling. Nobody should be hungry.”
Donations from generous individuals also support the pantries.
In nine days, from Aug. 29 to Sept. 6, nearly 2,000 people donated over $28,600 during the second annual Huddle Against Hunger campaign, a fundraising competition with Texas State University coinciding with a football matchup.
UT San Antonio won first place in the contest with a top prize of $15,000 for receiving the most donors.
Brown bag lunches
Pantry volunteer Alyssa Stoutes, a UT San Antonio graduate student, has worked at the Main Campus pantry for several years. Stoutes said she has seen the impact and difference the pantry makes for students beyond simply providing nutrition.
“There is still stigma around needing to shop at the pantry for food or other essentials, but it has gotten better,” she said. “It can get crazy busy sometimes and we get long lines and that’s when people see that it’s OK to be in need. They are not alone.”
Marcotte and his team are creating new ways to reach every student facing food insecurity while making the most of every donation.
Supported by the Najim gift and in partnership with the San Antonio Food Bank, the pantry holds monthly mobile distributions where students can stock up on free, fresh food.
The pantry is also producing food kits — lunch bags filled with microwavable macaroni and cheese cups, chips, granola bars, a protein item or fruit and a drink — and offering them in 20 locations across the campuses, including the One Riverwalk Place building downtown that opened this year.
Meal Share and Order Ahead
Two other options popular among students are the Meal Share program and the Order Ahead service.
Meal Share allows students to give unused meal plans to other students so they can access fresh, warm meals from the Roadrunner Café.
Order Ahead, which began two years ago, lets students place orders of up to a week’s supply of groceries via Rowdy Link for Saturday pick-up.
“We want to serve our fellow Roadrunners and provide support in any way we can, food is just the tip of the iceberg,” Marcotte said. “We appreciate all types of donations. We can’t do what we do without them.”
The Main Campus pantry is open from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m., Tuesdays, Wednesdays and Thursdays, and on Saturdays. The Downtown Campus site is open from 1 to 4 p.m., Monday through Thursday.
