
Katie Ollenburger, junior elementary education major and a community hornets coordinator, replaces the food on the shelf yesterday afternoon in Corky’s Cupboard in the Memorial Union. It is open on Mondays and Thursdays from 12 p.m. to 5 p.m. to offer ESU students free living supplies and food.
Since the beginning of 2018, Corky’s Cupboard has given out approximately 1,000 items to students.
Since August 2017, Corky’s Cupboard has given out 8,528 items, as of Feb. 6, according to Pantry Works. In the four years that they have operated, they’ve given out 38,584 items to students, as of Feb. 6.
Although they recieve items from the Can the Bods event during the fall semester, it isn’t enough to sustain them throughout the remainder of the year and they are always in need of donations, according to Munashe Mangwendeza, Community Hornets Coordinator and senior accounting major.
“We definitely need other donations throughout the year because…some things really do go faster than others so we have donations all year (to) keep us going,” Mangwendeza said.
According to Mangwendeza, Corky’s Cupboard is most in need of grains and snacks, like potato chips, since those tend to be picked up the most often.
“Grains, particularly like rice and pasta, usually go really quick, so we kind of have a race to replenish those,” Mangwendeza said.
During colder months, there is a change in the type of items that students collect from Corky’s Cupboard.
“Soups definitely, the hot chocolate…noodles, Ramen, they go pretty fast in the colder months,” Mangwendeza said.
Corky’s Cupboard uses Pantry Works, a program that keeps track of clients, items in stock and the number of items that have been picked up by students.
According to Mangwendeza, while he’s been working, there hasn’t been a day that a student hasn’t come in to pick up items.
Corky’s Cupboard is open 12-5 p.m. on Monday and Thursday, located in Memorial Union room 147, according to emporia.edu. The only requirement to pick up food is that users are enrolled at ESU.
Students can visit once a week and can take up to 10 items per visit, according to emporia.edu.
“It’s a really great resource for students,” Mangwendeza said.