Patriot Pantry

Patriot Pantry expands to Mason Square

Katarina Benson — Thu, 29 Jan 2026 21:11:33 +0000

Patriot Pantry expands to Mason Square Katarina Benson Thu, 01/29/2026 - 16:11

On January 20, 911�� expanded one of its most essential student support services. The Patriot Pantry officially opened a new location at Mason Square, extending food security resources to a campus that primarily serves graduate and professional students.

Operated by the Basic Needs Services team at the Student Support and Advocacy Center (SSAC), the pantry provides nonperishable food and hygiene products to students experiencing food insecurity. The service is designed to reduce stigma and remove barriers that can interfere with academic success.

The idea to expand the Patriot Pantry to Mason Square began with students in Jennifer Sklarew’s EVPP 480 Sustainability in Action class who noticed a gap in resources for Mason Square’s predominantly graduate and professional student population.

The Pantry is housed in the Student Lounge in Van Metre Hall, Room 211. Photo provided

Environmental science major Julia Frost, environmental and sustainability studies majors Isabella Barrera and Crystal Park, and business major Noah Brown, mentored by Sklarew, an assistant professor in the Department of Environmental Science and Policy, partnered with SSAC to create the new pantry. All four graduated in 2025.

With funding from a Mason Impact Mini Grant awarded by the Office of Undergraduate Education, the students funded the storage cabinet now used for pantry order pickup. SSAC assumed responsibility for operations, integrating the Mason Square location into its broader Basic Needs Services model and ensuring the pantry would function as a permanent, low-barrier resource.

“Food insecurity is a challenge no one should have to face, yet many do,” Barrera said. “Our goal is to help ensure that all students have access to a basic human right: food.”

The Patriot Pantry at Mason Square builds on a service with a long history at 911��. What began nearly 12 years ago on the Fairfax Campus as a volunteer-led effort became a permanent student service in 2016, housed within SSAC. Since then, pantry usage has increased by 990%.

The expansion was also supported by funds from the State Council of Higher Education for Virginia (SCHEV) through the Hunger-Free Campus Food Pantry grant program. These funds will be used to stock the Patriot Pantry at Mason Square with nonperishable food items and essential hygiene products.

Additional support was provided by a $10,000 College Pantry Grant from the Capital Area Food Bank, awarded to SSAC at a time when demand for basic needs support continues to grow.

Professor Jennifer Sklarew, Isabella Barrera, Crystal Park, and Noah Brown, with Melissa Thierry, director, University Life Regional Campuses, standing by the pick-up cabinet for the Patriot Pantry at Mason Square. Photo provided.

Dwayne Hamilton Jr., assistant director for Basic Needs Services, emphasized the pantry’s role in supporting students from diverse economic backgrounds, particularly graduate students who are often overlooked in higher education support services.

“Addressing basic needs concerns through the Patriot Pantry at Mason Square moves students toward the ideal experience at 911��: freedom and learning,” he said.

Students can now place orders through the Patriot Pantry at Mason Square order page and pick up items in the cabinet in the Student Lounge in Van Metre Hall, Room 211—a discreet, accessible location designed to prioritize privacy and dignity.

Community members may also support the pantry by donating nonperishable food and hygiene products through the Amazon Wishlist, contributing to the Student Food and Housing Insecurity Fund, or dropping off donations in the Student Lounge in Van Metre Hall, Room 211. A full list of accepted items is available on the Patriot Pantry homepage.

In This Story

Jennifer Sklarew

Learn more about University Life at 911��

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Patriot Pantry

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911�� is fighting food insecurity, one Empty Bowl at a time

sholla4 — Mon, 07 Apr 2025 16:37:51 +0000

911�� is fighting food insecurity, one Empty Bowl at a time sholla4 Mon, 04/07/2025 - 12:37

If you’re taking a bowl home from a party, most people leave with leftovers in hand. But at 911��’s annual Empty Bowls event, the guests leave with just that: a handmade, and very empty, ceramic bowl.

Bowl selection at the inaugural Mason empty Bowls in 2024. Photo provided

Empty Bowls is a global grassroots movement to support food-related charities and educate people on issues of poverty and hunger in their local communities. At Empty Bowls events, guests give a donation in exchange for a handmade ceramic bowl and a simple soup meal, leaving the event with an empty bowl as a reminder of how many people go without food in the local community.

The idea of Empty Bowls at 911�� started in the least surprising of places: a pottery studio.

Maggie Daniels, professor of tourism and events management in the College of Education and Human Development (CEHD), and Lauren Long, executive director of Student Involvement, share a love for pottery. Both of them are long-time potters at Manassas Clay. Together, Daniels and Long decided to bring Empty Bowls to 911��, in support of the Food and Housing Insecurity Fund through the Student Support and Advocacy Center (SSAC).

In order for students to succeed, their basic needs must be met, including stable housing, physical safety, and access to food. The SSAC was started to help connect students with resources as they face life challenges, including ensuring their basic needs are fulfilled. The Food and Housing Insecurity Fund, a donor-generated fund, supports this work.

“About one-third of all college students have experienced some type of food insecurity in the past year,” explained Margaret Olszewska, director of the SSAC. “Food insecurity covers a wide spectrum of situations in which a person lacks consistent access to nutritionally adequate and safe food. It ranges from not eating healthy food due to lack of resources, to missing entire meals.”

The fund supports students at all levels of food insecurity through various programs and resources. In 2024 in collaboration with Sodexo, SSAC distributed 2,400 meal swipes for 911�� on-campus dining halls and had 818 unique users of the Patriot Pantry. Starting in fall semester, a new partnership with Capital Area Food Bank offered students a digital purchasing card so they could buy perishable foods at their local grocery stores. The fund also contributes to helping students find temporary housing on campus in the event of a sudden loss of shelter or safe living situation.

Long and Daniels were determined to make a no-cost event so 100% of the proceeds from ticket sales and the silent auction could go to the fund. Hosted in the Center for the Arts, guests enjoy a soup meal and dessert, music by Green and Gold Soul, and a silent auction with items from local vendors. Everything is donated, so every cent can go directly to the fund.

"The Center for the Arts and Student Involvement are great partners throughout the year, and this is one of our favorite collaborations,” said Julie Thompson, executive director for the Center for the Arts.

Mason Dining contractor Sodexo, the caterer for the event, created a soup menu to reflect warmth, comfort, and inclusivity with locally sourced ingredients and a range of options for different dietary concerns. “Empty Bowls aligns perfectly with Sodexo’s mission to fight food insecurity and support sustainable food initiatives,” said Jenita Thurston, district manager for Sodexo.

Perhaps the most exciting part of the evening is the bowl selection. Each guest gets to take home a handmade ceramic bowl, crafted and donated by potters at Manassas Clay and other studios around Northern Virginia. From small teacups to large serving dishes in a rainbow of different glazes and finishes, there’s a bowl for everyone, and all of them are microwave, dishwasher, and oven safe.

“What’s really special about Empty Bowls is that this grassroots event was born out of the care and concern of our own 911�� community members,” said Olszewska. “It’s one of many examples of how our faculty and staff care about the students we serve beyond just our jobs.”

“For a CEHD faculty member and a University Life director to come together, to be innovative and creative in order to meet the needs of our students, is really at the core of what makes 911�� such an incredible place,” said Long.

Daniels agreed. “It showcases the best of who we are at 911��.”

Get tickets to the 2025 911�� Empty Bowls event.

Mason Empty Bowls 2025

Learn more about the Student Support and Advocacy Center

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Patriot Pantry partners with Capital Area Food Bank for food delivery

ckearney — Thu, 30 Nov 2023 19:28:06 +0000

Patriot Pantry partners with Capital Area Food Bank for food delivery ckearney Thu, 11/30/2023 - 14:28

911��’s Patriot Pantry, in cooperation with the Capital Area Food Bank, is delivering groceries to food-insecure Mason students and their families.

Photo by Evan Cantwell/Office of University Branding

“We started from a place of understanding that students have a lot of demands being put on their time and on their resources and began with the simple premise that addressing food needs would increase their success rates,” said Sabrina Tadele, director of strategic initiatives at the food bank, a hunger relief organization that works with community partners throughout the Washington, D.C., region.

The food bank delivers shelf-stable groceries and fresh produce to Mason, which, in cooperation with DoorDash, are then delivered to students’ homes within a 15-mile radius of the Fairfax Campus.

“[DoorDash] has been very, very generous with nonprofits, including the whole national network of food banks,” said Tadele.

The Patriot Pantry was the focus of Mason Vision Day 2023, a day of focused philanthropy for the Mason community. Funds raised on Mason Vision Day helped to secure student meal vouchers for on-campus dining, provide gift cards for local grocery stores, and to supply the Patriot Pantry, which is operated by the Student Support and Advocacy Center within University Life.

As part of Mason Vision Day, the food bank matched $30,000 of the funds raised in the form of credits in its online ordering portal, expanding access to a greater variety of foods.

“Food insecurity is often an experience compounded by other forms of basic need insecurity, such as financial instability and unstable transportation,” said Dwayne Hamilton Jr., assistant director for basic needs at Mason’s Student Support and Advocacy Center. “The Home Delivery Program promotes consistent and healthy food intake while addressing financial and transportation barriers that impact access. Confronting these obstacles enables students to devote their full attention to their academics.”

Mason staff fill orders and arrange for food delivery to students. CAFB conducts surveys with students at the beginning and end of each semester to measure the degree of a student’s food insecurity, as well as students’ subjective measures of well-being: physical health, mental health, and ability to focus in class.

Mason will provide academic data with anonymized identifiers, including information on students’ enrollment intensity, time to graduation, and attrition and retention.

“We spent a lot of time with our evaluation specialist designing the surveys the students will receive,” said Tadele. “We have to be able to understand whether [the program] works or not.”

“One of our broader goals with these partnerships is that we want to give students the support they need to finish their programs and then earn living-wage jobs and be able to contribute to our local economy. It’s a cyclical effect,” said Grace Brown, CAFB strategic initiatives manager.

This article originally appeared in University Life's Succeed magazine in a slightly different form.

Make a contribution to the Patriot Pantry

Donors helped address food insecurity at Mason during Mason Vision Day 2023

ckearney — Wed, 19 Jul 2023 18:55:25 +0000

Donors helped address food insecurity at Mason during Mason Vision Day 2023 ckearney Wed, 07/19/2023 - 14:55

Each year the 911�� community has the opportunity to support a cause that matters to them through Mason Vision Day.

Led by the Office of Annual Giving, Mason Vision Day 2023, held on April 6, highlighted the challenges posed by student food insecurity—which is a growing issue at Mason and at college campuses across the nation. This year, Mason Vision Day raised $290,000 for Mason causes with nearly $90,000 dedicated to student food insecurity.

Food insecurity is the lack of consistent access to a sufficient amount of food, which in turn can create other obstacles for students making it difficult for them to focus on their studies and fulfill their potential.

“We know that nationally, one-third of college students contend with food insecurity at some point during their collegiate career,” said Rose Pascarell, vice president for University Life at Mason. “We are so appreciative that Mason Vision Day could raise money, and awareness, for this pervasive and persistent problem we know exists on our campuses as well.”

Funds identified for student food insecurity will support campus resources like the Patriot Pantry, which provides students with access to food and hygiene items. Mason Vision Day donations will also help provide meal swipes for students so they can dine with peers, purchase gift cards for local grocery stores, and receive individualized guidance beyond food such as assistance with child care, job placements, mental health and housing.

The concept of a focused Mason Vision Day began in 2020 during the height of the pandemic when the Mason community came together to secure and distribute emergency funds and resources for Mason’s most vulnerable students.

The Patriots Helping Patriots initiative distributed a variety of resources to assist students and families, such as offering access to food, educational materials, and counseling resources. Within eight weeks, Mason’s Alumni Association and Office of Alumni Relations distributed nearly $2 million to aid students with tuition, housing, food, and other emergency needs. The event’s success led to the idea of rallying the Mason community around one vision each year—Mason Vision Day. While Mason Vision Day offers a common focus, it also embraces all philanthropic initiatives on campus, encouraging students, faculty, alumni, and donors to support what matters most to them at Mason.

“Focusing Mason Vision Day on a central initiative offers the opportunity to move the needle and really make a difference in a specific area,” said Trishana E. Bowden, president of the 911�� Foundation and vice president for advancement and alumni relations. “This is the true meaning of philanthropy—we recognize a need and come together to help one another.”

Mason Vision Day was also supported the Capital Area Food Bank. The food bank is an established anchor of hunger relief infrastructure across the Washington, D.C., region. Through a partnership with Mason to address campus food insecurity, Capital Area Food Bank matched $30,000 of the funds raised on Mason Vision Day through credits in its online food ordering portal.

“The response from our community was terrific,” said Pascarell. “In particular, I’d like to express my appreciation for our work with the Capital Area Food Bank and their generosity in supporting our students. Our growing partnership will make an incredible impact on our university’s ability to provide students the resources they need to be successful.”

Events like Mason Vision Day 2023 and programs like the Patriot Pantry give students the opportunity to thrive and continue to pursue their dreams.

“911�� is a community of caring, compassion, and hope,” Bowden said. “This year, our gifts will have a direct impact on many of our students. I am grateful and honored to be part of this extraordinary community.”

To support Mason students please go to giving.gmu.edu.

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Close to home: Food insecurity on Mason’s campuses

ckearney — Wed, 29 Mar 2023 20:47:37 +0000

Close to home: Food insecurity on Mason’s campuses ckearney Wed, 03/29/2023 - 16:47

Learn more about Mason Vision Day

Food insecurity is more prevalent than many people realize, particularly among college students.

“A student who is encountering food insecurity experiences a consistent lack of food because of financial conditions,” said Rose Pascarell, vice president for University Life at 911��.

Up to one-third of students nationally are impacted by food insecurity. Pascarell noted particular increases among certain student populations at Mason, including international students.

Vulnerable students may find that balancing academics with financial demands can be challenging. Even if students are aware of resources, the social stigma surrounding food insecurity can prevent many from seeking help. Nationally, 34 percent of students drop out of school as a result of such issues.

For students like Nelson Lemus, BS Business ’22, a master’s student in accounting, the stigma was difficult to overcome. In his first semester, Lemus found himself in need of assistance, but asking for help was not easy.

“During the pandemic, I was hit with a situational poverty,” said Lemus. “The option to continue my education was to sleep out of my car, not pay for housing, but to pay for school. I ended up not having enough funds to pay for food or even housing...this was very embarrassing for me.”

Though the social stigma persists around food and housing insecurity, the Mason community strives to reach as many students as possible through outreach and a determined effort to offer resources.

Through the Student Support and Advocacy Center (SSAC) within University Life, Mason offers a variety of resources for students experiencing food insecurity, including access to meal swipes, gift cards to purchase perishable foods, and connections to community resources.

One of Mason’s most well-known programs that directly supports students experiencing food insecurity is the Patriot Pantry. Originally known as the Pop-Up Pantry, the resource was created by then-student Yara Mowafy, BA Global Affairs ‘14, MA ‘15, and University Life staff member Michael Galvin.

“We started bringing our own stuff, toilet paper and things like that,” said Mowafy. “Then University Life staff heard about it, and we started reaching out to other student life organizations, and classrooms I was in.... Everybody found out that we were doing this, and it was no longer a ‘pop-up pantry.’ It was a real, organized thing.”

In 2015, Mason students Gary Hooker and Noah Shoates took over the daily operation of the pantry. The following year the pantry expanded to provide further supplies and resources to students, and was relocated to a new designated space in Student Union Building I. It became an official resource within the SSAC and renamed the Patriot Pantry.

During the past three years, Mason has seen a 172 percent increase in student use of the Patriot Pantry.

“I am very grateful for the pantry and all the resources Mason provided to me to help me achieve these great milestones I’ve been able to achieve,” said Lemus, who has an offer to work at a Big Four firm upon graduation.

Lemus encourages students who share a similar story to not view Mason’s resources as handouts.

“They are hand ups. They're there to help you overcome whatever situation, whatever hardship you're dealing with,” Lemus said. “So, students should not feel ashamed or embarrassed to receive this support—it is there to help you propel yourself to achieve whatever goals or milestones you have set for yourself.”

Mason Vision Day is an opportunity for our community to come together each year to identify and support a deserving initiative on campus. On April 6, support today’s Patriots by helping Mason address campus food insecurity.

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Mason comes together to address food insecurity on campus

ckearney — Wed, 15 Mar 2023 21:25:15 +0000

Mason comes together to address food insecurity on campus ckearney Wed, 03/15/2023 - 17:25

Food insecurity is a pervasive, compelling problem for many university students, including at 911��.

Studies have shown that nationally, one in three students struggles to afford their next meal. The problem is largely unseen, particularly among student populations—like Mason’s—that include adult learners or students who are balancing their studies with employment or taking care of family members, causing them to put their personal health on a lower priority. Moreover, food insecurity may imperil that education: nationally, students experiencing food insecurity are 43% less likely to graduate.

Mason Vision Day is an annual opportunity for the campus community to come together to identify and support a deserving initiative on campus. For this year’s event on April 6, 2023, Mason is turning its focus to food insecurity, working to support already-established initiatives and exploring other ways to alleviate student food concerns.

“It’s really difficult to concentrate and succeed at your highest potential as a college student when you’re experiencing food insecurity,” said Matthew Carlos, assistant director for student support and community outreach at Mason’s Student Support and Advocacy Center (SSAC). The SSAC offers resources to Mason students in a host of areas, including a focus on basic needs insecurity.

“Food insecurity means that an individual has inconsistent access to enough food for their daily life,” Carlos said. And its effects are profound. Food insecurity can lead to nutrition deficiencies, resulting in physical ailments including hypertension, diabetes, and heart disease. It can impair the emotional development that naturally takes place between the ages of 18-22. The uncertainty of not knowing where a next meal is coming from causes chronic stress and can lead to increases in anxiety and depression. Research also has linked food insecurity to reduced cognitive function, poor sleep, and challenges in concentration.

Because of the stigma attached to food insecurity, it is difficult to get a handle on the full extent of the problem. Mason’s University Life office houses SSAC and operates the Patriot Pantry, which allows enrolled students to obtain nonperishable food and hygiene items. The number students using the services of the Patriot Pantry over the past three years has increased 172%.

“About 500 unique students each year take advantage of the pantry,” said Rose Pascarell, vice president for University Life. “Some of those are students who experience episodes in their life and come in one or a few times, but many of the students are seeking assistance on a weekly basis.”

SSAC has been working on ways to meet the need, including the Patriot Pantry as well as partnerships with organizations and businesses in the Mason community.

Professor Dann Sklarew of the Department of Environmental Science and Policy supports the SSAC’s work. He teaches capstone research course EVPP 480 Sustainability in Action and found that his students’ research projects were turning to food insecurity among their classmates. He and his students became “more and more involved with trying to understand the magnitude of the problem and what can be done about it,” he said

He agrees that a variety of possible solutions is the key. “We could really get to a point where everybody who isn’t getting enough calories or nutrition would have some options through the university or through other means,” Sklarew said.

“Mason is doing a fantastic job of reducing that stigma that's still associated with food insecurity,” said Carlos. “Whether that's through initiatives from President Washington and the Patriot Pantry challenge, student government, other leaders on campus, there's a lot of positive energy when it comes to reducing and eliminating food insecurity here at Mason.”

Learn more about how you can support Mason Vision Day.

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Mason’s 10th annual Day of Service partners with the Patriot Pantry to address student food insecurity

ckearney — Wed, 07 Sep 2022 19:24:17 +0000

Mason’s 10th annual Day of Service partners with the Patriot Pantry to address student food insecurity ckearney Wed, 09/07/2022 - 15:24

911�� hosts the 10th annual 9/11 Day of Service this Friday, September 9, with a focus on food insecurity.

Participants can join in-person and virtual volunteer service projects throughout the day and attend special events including a morning meditation session at 9:30 a.m., a service fair at 11 a.m., and opening ceremonies at 11:30 a.m. in the Hub ballroom.

Mason’s Patriot Pantry, operated by the Student Support and Advocacy Center, is the featured partner.

The Patriot Pantry began in 2014 as a student-led pop-up shop to address student food insecurity. After years of successful operation, it was formalized and integrated into university operations in 2016. Housed in SUB I, Room 3011, the pantry is now the primary resource for students experiencing food insecurity.

You can support Mason students by purchasing food and hygiene products from the Patriot Pantry’s Amazon Wishlist, and adding “9-11 Day” to your order.

Food insecurity means someone lacks consistent access to the food they need to be active and healthy, due to a lack of financial resources, according to the USDA. Between 2018 and 2021, 36% of Mason students indicated they were food insecure, according to research as part of College of Science professor Dann Sklarew’s Environmental Science and Policy 480 Sustainability in Action courses.

Students can request food and hygiene products from the Patriot Pantry through an online order form and pick up their items at the pantry.

In the past four academic years, the number of unique students served by the Patriot Pantry grew by 362%. From the 2020-21 to the 2021-22 academic year, it grew by 90 percent, according to data provided by the Patriot Pantry. During the same year, the Patriot Pantry helped 453 student users and distributed 14,295 pounds of food and supplies (valued at $23,872.65).

Other volunteer opportunities include the Innovation Food Forest, Green Studio, Potomac Heights Vegetable Garden, a waste audit at a pilot compost site, as well as projects connected with Mason Chooses Kindness, the Fairfax Humane Society, and Women Giving Back. There’s also the option to participate in a virtual or in-person 5K: the Arlington Police, Fire, Sheriff and ECC 9/11 Memorial 5K Race.

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Patriot Pantry expands to Mason Square

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Mason Vision Day is an opportunity for our community to come together each year to identify and support a deserving initiative on campus. On April 6, support today’s Patriots by helping Mason address campus food insecurity.

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Mason comes together to address food insecurity on campus

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Mason Vision Day is an opportunity for our community to come together each year to identify and support a deserving initiative on campus. On April 6, support today’s Patriots by helping Mason address campus food insecurity.

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Mason comes together to address food insecurity on campus

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Mason’s 10th annual Day of Service partners with the Patriot Pantry to address student food insecurity

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911�� is fighting food insecurity, one Empty Bowl at a time