In 2013, staff at Hendricks Chapel approached a dilemma: There was an increase in the number of grant and loan requests among students at Syracuse University. They learned that some students couldn’t pay for food necessities on top of university tuition bills.

To address the issue, Hendricks Chapel established the food pantry, providing all SU and SUNY-ESF students with free canned and dried foods as well as various hygiene products. Students can fill a bag of food and hygiene products once a week with a valid SU or SUNY-ESF ID.

The Hendricks food pantry has partnered with SUArt Galleries and Barre3 Syracuse, a fitness studio in DeWitt, for “Raise the Barre and Sweat for a Cause!” The hour-long barre class will be held Wednesday at 5 p.m. in the Shaffer Art Building. It is a donation-based class, meaning participants donate canned or dried foods or cash to fill the food pantry.

“I’m grateful that the arts reached out to us to build a partnership,” said Syeisha Byrd, director of the office of engagement programs at Hendricks Chapel. “It just brings awareness across campus about art, about fitness and about food insecurity.”

This year, SUArt Galleries is working more to connect with the campus community by participating in SU’s 150 Days of Service. The gallery hopes to provide more health and wellness outlets for students and community members while attracting more people to the galleries, said Emily Dittman, associate director at SUArt Galleries.

“It’s helping different areas, which are struggling sometimes to make their presence known, become more available to people who might take advantage of those resources,” Dittman said in reference to the barre class and its partnership.

The class focuses on strength conditioning and mindfulness through Pilates, yoga and cardio workouts. Dittman said barre classes are low-impact yet strategic, giving participants a therapeutic outlet to focus on their well-being.

Dittman said the barre class can hold up to 25 people and is open to both students and community members. People who participate are instructed to bring a yoga mat along with their donations. There will be boxes in front of the gallery for the donations.

Jordan Concolino, an SU sophomore and front desk staff member at Barre3, said that barre classes help people build a healthy, balanced relationship with their bodies and mental health.

“You move small to work muscles you never knew you had and also move big to flush those muscles,” Concolino said. “The end of every class you focus on breathing in order to put your mind at rest and leave feeling refreshed.”

The food pantry has two locations at SU, one in the lower level of Hendricks Chapel and the other in the Office of Energy Systems and Sustainability Management on South Campus. The South Campus location was recently created in fall 2019.

Each month, the pantry participates in “Adopt-A-Month,” where the food pantry partners with staff, students and faculty in specific buildings on campus for a month to collect items for the pantry.

“I think it’s amazing that folks are paying attention to the needs of our students,” Byrd said.

She said that although the pantry does not track how many people it helps, the food donations are estimated to help a little less than 200 students each year. Byrd added that any donations, however big or small, will help the students and are appreciated by the volunteers of the pantry.

“We’re always grateful for whatever is donated because it’s going to be put to good use by our students,” Byrd said.

Published on February 3, 2020 at 12:07 am