Financially struggling students now have a new place to go for help at the University of Central Florida. “Knights Helping Knights” is a group of students from the LEAD scholars program that, with the help of their professor Rick Falco, was able to create a food pantry for their fellow students at UCF.
The “Knights Helping Knights” food pantry is stocked with canned foods, snacks, meals, clothes and books available for any student. The founders of the food pantry chose to use an honor system, where no identification or paperwork is required. Anyone can stop by and pick up as much as they may need.
According to the group’s Web site, there is a big need for a food pantry on campus, as nearly one out of five students reports having a parent who lost a job or got laid off since the beginning of the school year, and nearly one in three college students now say financial pressures are a big source of daily stress for them — a 27 percent jump from last year.
Aubrey Brown, a UCF student and one of the founders of the new food pantry is proud to be helping fellow students.
“We see ‘Knights Helping Knights’ as a resource on-campus for students in need, where they don’t have to worry about food”, said Brown. To keep the pantry going she says they need as many donations as possible, because it is run completely off donations.
Brown has high hopes for the future of the food pantry, which started off as a class project for LEAD Scholars. She says “the food pantry started out small, but it’s getting bigger and we hope it stays at UCF for years to come”.
The Knights Helping Knights Food Pantry is open Tuesdays to Thursdays from 11 a.m. to 2 p.m. The pantry is located in suite 312 on the 3rd floor of the Student Union. Knight’s Helping Knights is currently collecting donations at the Student Union. To find out more, visit http://khk.sdes.ucf.edu
