UW Food Security

It's a Tuesday afternoon, and a UW student is stuck deciding between this week's groceries or supplies for class because this month the budget only stretches for one. She's not alone. Last year, 403 households came through the Pokes Center for Community Resources Pokes Pantry looking for exactly this kind of help—7,919 visits in all, helping 782 Cowboys, Cowgirls, and their family members put food on the table. This represents a real slice of the campus community, showing up again and again, because the need doesn't take a semester off.

The good news? Our campus already knows how to help meet that need. The Pokes Pantry keeps shelves stocked with groceries and staples for any student or employee who walks in. Satellite food cabinets put food within reach in the buildings where students, staff, and faculty already spend their day. And meal swipe sharing lets a student with swipes to spare hand one directly to someone who needs it, turning an extra meal into someone else's dinner. All of these services are tested, used every week, and work, but grocery prices keep climbing, and the demand for these programs keeps growing with them.

A gift here fills a shelf, restocks a cabinet, or covers a swipe as soon as tomorrow. And because we work with local agencies and campus partners to get the best prices, your gift stretches further with us than it would on its own. We're asking you to help us keep these services available and to ensure that no student has to choose between a nutritious meal and their education.