Little Ram Pantries project, launched via CEnR grant, expands to MCV Campus
The project is part of the iCubed Sustainable Food Access core
Five Little Ram Pantries were installed on Virginia Commonwealth University’s Monroe Park Campus last fall as part of a pilot project to help address food insecurity among students. Now the project is being expanded, with two new Little Ram Pantries being added on the Monroe Park Campus and an additional four on the MCV Campus.
John C. Jones, Ph.D., an assistant professor in the Center for Environmental Studies, was awarded a VCU community-engaged research Health Equity Grant to launch the project.
The pantries — which are similar to the Little Free Libraries often found in neighborhoods, but stocked with free nonperishable food items and toiletries — have been installed in the School of Business’ Snead Hall and the College of Engineering’s Engineering Research Building on the Monroe Park Campus and in the Larrick Student Center, the Health Sciences Library and the Gateway Building on the MCV Campus. An additional Little Ram Pantry will also be deployed soon in the James W. and Frances G. McGlothlin Medical Education Center.
The Little Ram Pantry project is research focused, in that the team is studying its effectiveness in addressing student hunger. If it proves successful, the team hopes that it will transition to be overseen by VCU staff, rather than research faculty, on an ongoing basis. And, Jones said, it could be replicated at other schools as well.
For more information, please read the full VCU News article.
Categories Community-engaged research, iCubed