Meet Nicole, Jordan and Ryan

Meet Nicole Brown, Jordan Coffman, and Ryan Merrifield.

 Clyde's Cupboard is a student run club that provides free food and toiletries for all enrolled UCCS students. The food pantry started out as a project in the Anthropology Department in 2013 and has grown into a popular food pantry for students in need.  It is open Wednesdays and Thursdays from 10 a.m. - 5 p.m. Students are allowed to visit once per week and take up to 6 items. They do an awesome job redistributing food from both their food drives and daily operations. By allowing students a place to donate their leftover/unwanted food, this is encouraging the cycle of reuse while building community and support for their peers.  

1. What was the driving force or mission that started the campus' food pantry?
Clyde's Cupboard was a collaboration of many students within the Anthropology Department. They were part of an Advanced Cultural Anthropology course where the class identified a need and formulated a plan to remedy the situation and a campus food pantry was the solution to the need they identified. - Nicole   

2. How did you become involved in Clyde's Cupboard?
I wanted to be involved on campus when I first started here.  Clyde's Cupboard used to be a big part of the Anthropology Club and as an Anthropology major I thought the cupboard was a great program that I could be a part of.  Clyde's was in its infancy then and I really wanted to help it grow. - Nicole   

3. What have you learned the most from being involved with Clyde's Cupboard?
I've learned a lot about the reward that comes from helping others.  I know that I've been in situations where I could have used something like the cupboard and it gives a sense of satisfaction to be able to help others who need it too. - Nicole     

4. Has your involvement led you to integrate any other sustainable aspects in your personal life?
Being a community that supports itself and those within it is really important to me, I believe we should be able to take care of our own.  So far Clyde's cupboard is based entirely on donations from within the UCCS community and that is really meaningful to me, that we can count on this network of people to support each other. - Nicole