The University of Akron, ZipAssist, Campus Cupboard Program

In 2017, ZipAssist, UA’s student advocacy and support office at The University of Akron, was charged with building a system of support for students experiencing financial hardship and seeking support for emergency needs. Assistance through ZipAssist can be related to anything impacting a student’s ability to persist and successfully achieve their academic goals. UA defines a financial emergency as an unforeseen expense that, if not resolved quickly, could lead to the student’s departure from college, resulting in loss of momentum towards degree completion. In order to support students who may experience financial hardship, The University of Akron has a dedicated office that works alongside students to determine emergency issues that would cause them to drop out or stop out unnecessarily. The office is also positioned to help students resolve academic, emotional, and tuition-related concerns so they can reach their education goals. ZipAssist serves the entire campus population and manages a unique emergency grant program that helps students overcome non-tuition related, temporary financial emergencies. Assistance through ZipAssist can be related to anything impacting a student’s ability to persist and successfully achieve their academic goals. Examples include food insecurity, personal crises, tuition/fees, academic concerns, textbook and technology assistance, connection to community resources or emergency financial crises. In 2019, ZipAssist branded the Campus Cupboard program and opened a network of “Grab and Go” food pantries across the UA Main Campus. Due to increased need, the University converted a former office space to a walk-in food pantry in December 2019. This space provides a grocery pick-up service as well as a walk-in space for students to “shop” for needed items. UA’s Wayne [branch] campus in Orville, Ohio, was named a satellite location for the Campus Cupboard in 2020. As of August 2021, the Campus Cupboard now offers walk-in hours with evening hours in addition to the grocery pick up service. In June 2020, the Campus Cupboard partnered with The Salvation Army to organize a monthly hot meal/food distribution on campus. Then in October 2020, through a grant and collaboration with Undergraduate Student Government, the Menstrual Poverty program started in three buildings, nine restrooms. The Menstrual Poverty Program expanded in Fall 2021 to include twelve Aunt Flow dispensers that were installed in three different buildings (Simmons Hall, Student Union and Student Recreation Center). In May 2022, the Roo-Store program was born as a sustainability effort with Residence Life and Housing and to meet student’s homeware and small furnishing needs. At the same time, the Campus Community Garden program started with the goal to grow produce to meet the increased need for fresh produce in the pantry and to provide a community space to learn and relax. In June 2022, the Campus Cupboard began a collaboration with the Akron Canton Food Bank to host a monthly pop-up pantry on campus bringing the total monthly distributions on campus to two, one every other week. In August 2022, the Habitat for Humanity ReStore became a partner with UA’s Roo-Store program to offer a pop-up shopping event on campus and offer an all-year-round discount to students, faculty, and staff. At the same time, menstrual products were added to the items stoked in all four grab-n-gos. In December 2022, two new grab-n-go locations were added to UA’s Folk Hall and Law School to increase access to food for students with more ridged course schedules. In addition, the Menstrual Poverty program expanded to include Folk Hall restrooms and both grab-n-go locations were stocked with menstrual products.

The Campus Cupboard's goal is to provide students in periodic need with access to the basic necessities of daily living. All enrolled UA students — undergraduate, graduate, international, on-campus resident, or commuter — have access to the program’s services including all food locations. These locations include the Campus Community Garden, Roo-Store, Menstrual Poverty program and other food and clothing events that serve students with access to basic needs. The Campus Cupboard has an approval rating of 95% satisfaction from students with the other 5% neither satisfied nor dissatisfied. Each month the Campus Cupboard sees an average of 158 visits (roughly 5 visits a day) with each student receiving an average of 8 lbs. of food and 4 lbs. of hygiene/non-food items. Through the six grab-n-go locations (Student Union, Polsky Building, Bierce Library, Simmons Hall, Folk Hall and Law School) we distribute 45 lbs. of food and hygiene items to each location on a weekly/bi-weekly timeframe, depending on usage, for a total of over 600 lbs. a month. The Campus Cupboard hosts monthly distribution events partnered with The Salvation Army and the Akron Canton Food Bank. These distribution events average 100 visits during each semester. In its inaugural summer harvest, the Campus Community Garden produced 58 lbs. of produce and offered seven separate volunteer opportunities in the 2022 grow season in addition to the ongoing collaboration with the University of Akron’s Urban Agriculture Club and Biology Department. The Roo-Store program, which sells reduced cost and gently used homeware and small furnishings to students, sold 764 items making a total of $1,738 which goes to the Campus Cupboard program. The Roo-Store prices range from $1 to a maximum of $25 for large items such as couches. The program does consider student need and will waive cost for students experiencing financial barriers. The Menstrual Poverty program has 19 locations in five different buildings spread throughout UA’s urban campus (with some gender-neutral locations). Additionally, the Campus Cupboard has individual products stocked in the six different grab-n-go locations and access to full size products through the Campus Cupboard.