Post-Holiday Giving Slump Affects Students in Need at Barney’s Pantry

Chris Woods
18 hours ago
2 min read

Chris Woods

The Advocate

The Advocate recently stopped in to talk with Rachel Dillard, coordinator of Barney’s Pantry at Mt. Hood Community College. Barney’s Pantry provides emergency food and other essentials to students in need.

The pantry is open 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. Monday through Friday, one of the longest weekly schedules of any area food bank. A student ID is required, and students are limited to one visit per week, with item limits clearly marked on the shelves.

About 500 students are served per week—roughly 2,000 people, based on the household counts reported at check-in. That averages about 125 visitors per day, with the busiest days being Monday through Wednesday. Dillard is the pantry’s full-time coordinator, and student workers support operations, though they are sometimes limited to as few as seven hours per week.

Most food at the pantry is donated or purchased at a very low cost. Barney’s Pantry partners with the Oregon Food Bank, where Dillard uses an ordering system to “shop” for items to pick up. On Mondays and Wednesdays, she takes the box truck to collect an average of 3,000 to 4,000 pounds of food each trip. On Tuesdays, she shops with a grocery cart at Birch Community Services.

New items are usually available soon after Dillard returns from these distribution sites. Student workers quickly stock shelves from the four to six pallets of food delivered each week, preparing the pantry for the daily rush. Most students receive up to 50 pounds of food, including shelf-stable items, refrigerated meals, eggs, meat and dairy. There is no limit on fresh or frozen produce. When certain items are unavailable, Dillard uses her budget to order them.

Another partner, Gleaners of Clackamas County, provides thousands of pounds of items ranging from milk to oats to potato salad. The pantry also receives donations from Amazon, including snacks, drinks and coffee, which are offered free throughout the day in the Equity and Community Resource Center lobby.

While working on this story, we spoke with someone who wanted to donate and spent about $100 at Costco. The items were delivered on a Wednesday morning, and by 12:30 p.m., nearly everything was gone. Getting it quickly into the hands of students who needed it was the best outcome possible.

When we asked Dillard which items are most needed—beyond what appears on online lists—she said the priority right now is primarily shelf-stable foods, with a few exceptions.