The Lift Up Vikes Food Pantry offered a contactless pick up service available to Cleveland State University students throughout the fall semester. 

Newly renovated and located in Berkman Hall rooms 122 and 148, the food pantry aims to provide free food to struggling students and their families. 

Holly Fish, the coordinator for Lift Up Vikes, explained exactly how the food pantry was operating this semester despite students being unable to enter the pantry due to the ongoing coronavirus pandemic. 

“They actually cannot come in the pantry,” Fish said. “We have two doors to our pantry. We just open both of them up and put plexi-glass between them with tables. Students come up with their student identification card and we check them in. Then they’re directed to the second door where they pick up their bag." 

Fish explained that the food pantry had to completely restructure the way in which it was operating. 

“We have some very specific protocols that we normally don’t have,” Fish said. “For example, students have to register a week in advance so that we know how many bags we have to make.” 

Fish also explained how it’s decided what food is placed into the bags. 

“We try to do it based on what we would normally allow students to take,” Fish said. “So it would be two different grains — which are pasta, rice or cereal — we have pasta sauce, we have soup, we have canned veggies and fruit, and we do give students produce when they come to pick up their items.” 

Fish assured that although students cannot hand select the food going into their bags. Dietary restrictions and religious affiliations will be addressed. 

“There is a certain section on the registration sheet that they can fill out that talks about if they have cultural or religious affiliations where they can’t eat certain foods,” Fish said. “If they have allergies, things like that.” 

According to Fish, the food pantry averages about 50 students per week who each pick up a bag of food. This has added up to over one ton of food that has been distributed to students this semester alone. 

Although food has been distributed to many students, Fish encouraged more students in need to register and pick up bags. 

“I think that some students still don’t realize it’s a free service,” Fish said. “So you don’t have to pay for anything. I think that students get nervous about registering a week in advance, but it’s nothing to be nervous about. We just need that information so we can make sure we have enough food and so we can make the proper number of bags."

"I think that some students know we closed in March when the school closed down and now we’re here and we’re open.”  

The food pantry’s last distribution of the semester will take place on Dec. 9 and Dec. 10 from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m.

Fish, meanwhile, is looking forward to students being back on campus.

We just had this major absolute gorgeous renovation so we’re really sad students can’t go in there.”