My family’s connection to Arizona’s Campus Pantry
The UA’s Campus Pantry started in the spring of 2012 with only a few student volunteers to help over 2,000 people each week. I believe we should donate more to the UA’s food pantry.
The only requirement to access the campus food pantry is your Wildcat Card. The food in the pantry is for students, faculty and staff.
“I’d say about 92% are students and then about 8% are mixtures or staff that make up our users per week,” said Bridgette Riebe, senior coordinator of the Basic Needs Center and Service.
The campus food pantry has partnered up with the Community Food Bank, and students can receive one box of fruits and vegetables a week. They also work with the Koren Food Bank, which provides yellow squash, small potatoes, tomatoes and bread. The pantry has student volunteers and interns.
The pantry is personal to me. In 2020, my grandparents Evelyn Campa and Frank Campa started donating big bundles of food to the campus pantry. The Campas continue to bring in cereals, soups, canned vegetables, beans and various other types of food items for the campus pantry. The Campas donate food because many of their friends can’t afford food.
The Campas believe in higher education as a path to success. Their oldest daughter, Dr. Marla Franco, attended UC Berkeley, Cal State Long Beach and Azusa Pacific University. Her younger sister, Nicole Campa, went to Life Pacific College and North West College to get her licensed vocational nurse. The Campas first learned about the campus pantry from Channel 13 and received more information about the campus pantry from their daughter.
Dr. Marla Franco, assistant vice provost of Hispanic Serving Institution Initiatives, has donated canned food, vegetables, soups and cereal. She does it because she wants to make sure students graduate.
“If students are struggling to figure out their next meal, how are they supposed to do well in school and graduate?” Franco said.
