Through a partnership with Yamhill Community Action Partnership (YCAP), the food pantry at Linfield University now offers fresh produce, dairy and frozen items to the McMinnville campus community.
The Wildcat Food Pantry first opened in 2020, offering shelf-stable items to students. It will continue to offer snacks and canned goods to students 24-hours per day. Thanks to the new collaboration, a separate section will be staffed four days a week for the YCAP-provided food.
“Students Isabella Dixon and Lili Bolio Dominguez really steered this project,” said Jeremy Richards, Linfield’s chaplain and director of service learning. His team spent the last year working to meet the requirements of a YCAP-partnered food bank. The biggest hurdle? An assistant must be present at all times, which would preclude the continued operation of the 24/7 grab-and-go pantry.
“We want the Wildcat Food Pantry to be low-barrier and less stressful for students,” Richards said. “Specifically, we don’t want a situation where someone won’t go because they might feel a stigma. People should able to access food any time they need.”
The solution: make a hybrid room, with one part accessible at all times, and another for frozen and refrigerated items that is only open when properly staffed.
To accomplish that vision, the Wildcat Food Pantry moved to a bigger space on the second floor of Riley Campus Center. Linfield’s Facilities Services team, led by Brent Flanders and Fredrik Eriksson, completed renovations to the space, and the pantry reopened on Feb. 12.
“The entire facilities services team, led by Brent and Fredrik, were so excited and quick to help,” Richards said.
Eriksson said that the renovations were an all-hands effort.
“William Hurliman, our carpenter, performed most of the renovations for the food pantry. Darrell Driver, who works as our lock and key specialist, teamed up with assistant Cary Dewees to build and install all the shelving. Plus, student employees Ryan Erickson-King and Kayleen McMillan-Dressel helped all of us throughout the process,” he explained.
Richards added that Jeff Mackay, vice president for student affairs, was key in driving the project forward.
The Wildcat Food Pantry is now fully open for the Linfield community from 4:30-8:30 p.m. Mondays and Thursdays and noon-4 p.m. Tuesdays and Fridays; it is open to the public from 3-4 p.m. Fridays. Students can access the grab-and-go area any time by swiping their Linfield ID.
The grab-and-go area relies on donations. Particularly needed are snacks, canned soups, cold cereal and ramen (see the full wish list). The shipping address for online orders is:
Office of Service Leadership
900 SE Baker St.
Unit A525
McMinnville, OR 97128.
In-person donations are accepted in the box outside of Riley 301. For more information on the Wildcat Food Pantry, email chaplain@linfield.edu or visit the Linfield Community Engagement homepage.
