aerial view of Western's campus at night, with golden lights surrounded by dark trees

Can you help out at Western's WHOLE Food Pantry this summer?

Since last summer, the Western Hub of Living Essentials (WHOLE) pantry has expanded to include pick-ups of donations from Trader Joe’s and Avenue Bread as well as purchases through the Bellingham Food Bank. This is in addition to pick-ups and deliveries of purchases made through local grocers and Amazon to fill in need gaps. During the school year, this is manageable with lots of help by our AmeriCorps staff, student staff, and volunteers. However, during summer, most of the staff is away and help is needed. It takes a village to run this pantry!

What is needed is help in unloading pick-ups and deliveries on Mondays and Tuesdays, as well as regularly stocking the pantry, ideally 1-2 times a day on Wednesdays, Thursdays, and Fridays. A Sign-Up Genius form has been created for WWU staff and faculty to sign up for these shifts throughout the summer and help is still needed throughout August and September. Because schedules can be all over the place with vacations and such, these are not regular shifts but week by week. For Wednesday, Thursday, and Friday shifts, only one shift at 9am or 10am as well as 3pm or 4pm is needed.

If you are interested and available, sign up for shifts here: https://www.signupgenius.com/go/10C084BA4A62FA4FBC70-49857188-summer.

Or if you’d like to support the pantry in a different way, you can always donate funds through the Viking Funder website or through a paycheck deduction. Donated funds are used to purchase food and hygiene items to put into the pantry. About $12,000 is spent each quarter and is completely reliant on the generous donations of the community. You can also drop off unopened food and hygiene items in the bin on the 6th floor of the Viking Union, next to the Info Desk.

Thank you for supporting the pantry and the WWU community!