Full Circle Campus Food Pantry and its Ceramics Studio Outpost Fill Community Need

​The Jane B. Gearhart Full Circle Food Pantry at the U of A campus in Fayetteville continues to operate and serve hundreds of clients during the COVID-19 pandemic because of the dedication of Sage McCoy and her team.

McCoy is the coordinator of Food Programs for the Center for Community Engagement, a department in the Division of Student Affairs.

“As universities across the U.S. moved classes online and students off campus, the Full Circle team began to get anxious,” McCoy said. “My students’ first thoughts, before concern for themselves, were ‘what about our clients and how can we continue to serve?’”

The Food Pantry was able to remain flexible, but once the university moved to remote operations, they had to limit operations.

“Full Circle Fast Bags were our answer to the question of how we could continue to serve our community without fully interacting with our community. We wanted to maintain and encourage social distancing but still serve those in need,” McCoy said. “We asked that clients take one bag for every two people in their household. These bags have a bit more than we would normally put in one order in hopes that folks do not need to make more than one trip to the pantry in a week, limiting social interactions and need for leaving the house.”

McCoy said the Food Pantry is doing the best it can as far as being stocked with inventory to help clients. Recent donations have come in from the Greek Life program, the College of Engineering and restaurants like Hugo’s.

But now, McCoy said, monetary donations will help the Food Pantry the most, since many April food drive events had to be cancelled and her team can use funds to purchase the most needed items.

Throughout March 2020, McCoy said the Food Pantry served 1,388 clients – more than three times the number served in March 2019 – which included creating and distributing 354 fast bags.

“In order to manage our inventory, our accountability, our record-keeping and our time, we will be staffing and facilitating certain hours every week for folks to come pick up fast bags,” she said. “I think more new people are more willing to ask for assistance in the time of the pandemic, and we’re so glad to be able to be there for them, even in our limited capacity.”

McCoy is passionate about her work with students and helping people with food insecurity find their next meal, which is something she knows all about from first-hand experience.

“In grad school I had a graduate assistantship position in the Office of Student Activities with Associated Student Government and truly fell in love with advising students,” McCoy said. “Being a GA is rewarding, but I was struggling financially.”

McCoy said her supervisor at the time pointed her towards Claire Allison, assistant director of the Center for Community Engagement (CCE), who has special training in helping people apply for SNAP (Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program) benefits.

“She helped me navigate the application process and got me in touch with professionals at the Arkansas Hunger Relief Alliance and I was able to receive benefits,” McCoy said. “Being on SNAP opened my eyes to how helpful the program could be but also how much of a pain it is to maintain receiving the benefits regardless of need.”

As she continued her work as a GA advising students in student government, the Food Pantry and working with food insecurity kept coming up.

“I volunteered during the Food Pantry remodel. I advocated for it and raised money for it during my time as a Hog Caller with the Annual Fund,” McCoy said. “I got to attend a training provided by the CCE to learn how to help others navigate the SNAP process, much like Claire did for me.”

Angela Oxford, director of the Center for Community Engagement, said Sage continues to go above and beyond in her work as the campus’s Food Program Coordinator, and it’s what made her the perfect fit for this full-time role supervising a team of 18 student leaders and running the pantry.

“She has a passion for service and making sure people stay fed is at her core. Sage has spent countless hours in the pantry filling bags with small teams of students all practicing social distancing to create ‘fast bags’ for pick up,” Oxford said. “Sage embodies the spirit of service and heart of compassion.”

Jeannie Hulen, an associate dean at the J. William Fulbright College of Arts and Sciences and ceramics professor in the School of Art, has been working with McCoy to expand the Food Pantry’s reach.

During this COVID-19 pandemic, Hulen has been running the Ceramics Studio Outpost for the Food Pantry, providing a second easy-access point on campus where people can pick up some of the pre-made “grab and go” Full Circle Fast Bags that contain food or household goods.

“Sage does so much for so many people and I have learned a lot from her in this short time of getting to work with her,” Hulen said. “She is the hero in this crisis, as are all who work in places that help people with the greatest needs.”

Hulen got involved with McCoy while working on a “Kiln to Table” fundraiser for the Food Pantry. The April 5 event was cancelled and will be rescheduled in the future, “but this got us thinking about how we can still help now, too,” Hulen said.

Once the COVID-19 pandemic passes, Hulen said she hopes people remember that food insecurity is an ongoing issue.

“The best way for people to help those in need is to donate money to all food pantries now and in the future,” she said.

For the most up to date information on the Jane B. Gearhart Full Circle Food Pantry, including operation hours and locations please visit the Food Pantry online or its Facebook page.

If you’d like to financially contribute to the Full Circle Food Pantry, please visit the Full Circle Food Pantry giving page.

About the Jane B. Gearhart Full Circle Food Pantry: The Food Pantry was established by the Volunteer Action Center in February 2011 as a student-run emergency food assistance program. The pantry serves clients with well balanced meals through non-perishables and fresh produce from the pantry garden. The pantry is available to anyone with a U of A or UAMS ID: students, staff, and faculty, as well as temporary and hourly employees. Clients never need to show proof of need, just a U of A or UAMS ID.

​A version of this story also appeared on the U of A’s Determined to Help website.