By Hali Schaefer, Assistant Director of Communications, Student Affairs
Fourteen months.
That is how long the United States has been grappling with the COVID-19 pandemic.
Fourteen months is also the amount of time that the Jamil Niner Student Pantry has been surviving in a pandemic, providing food and supplies to a growing number of UNC Charlotte students experiencing food insecurity as a direct result of the last year’s events.
Upwards of 200-plus students each week, in fact. An increase from 80 students each week in the previous, non-pandemic year. Between Fall 2019 and Fall 2020, the Pantry saw a 41% increase in client visits, with a total of 7,307 visits from March 2020 to March 2021. 17 of those clients have children.
“This has been a very challenging year running the Pantry and keeping it stocked so we can continue to meet the needs of our students,” said Mindy Sides-Walsh, Director of Leadership & Community Engagement (L&CE). “Before the pandemic, students were able to shop in person at the Pantry. Since March 2020, we’ve pivoted to our staff fulfilling online orders. We were also open four days a week pre-pandemic, but have since had to switch to two days a week with pick-up service only.”
Mindy, who was named the 2021 UNC Charlotte Employee of the Year in the Devotion to Duty category, and her team in L&CE — Michael Maksymowski, Assistant Director; Mikala Harvey, Assistant Director and Joe Harvey, interim Assistant Director along with graduate assistants — worked quickly at the start of the pandemic to shift Pantry operations and manage safety concerns due to the virus.
Prior to 2020, 1-in-3 UNC Charlotte students faced food insecurity. With the pandemic, the need to maintain a well stocked and well run food pantry to help ensure that every student has access to nutritious food was greater than ever.
One of the biggest challenges was how to navigate the reduced capacity of visitors inside the Pantry and maintain safe physical distancing practices between staff and clients.
“Mindy pulled her small team together to develop an online order form for Pantry clients to complete with requests for specific types of foods and supplies offered through the Pantry, and then the team bagged those orders and handed them out as clients came to the Pantry to pick up their specific order,” said Karen Shaffer, Assistant Vice Chancellor for Student Affairs. “She also offered ‘to go’ bags for clients during times that would typically be breaks for the Pantry staffing team, essentially running the program year round.
During regular operating conditions, the Pantry relies heavily on student and community volunteers and food drive donations. All of this change was implemented with no volunteers to minimize person-to-person contact. As a result, Mindy’s schedule changed to accommodate one to two days a week on-site in the Pantry. Also, with no food drives taking place between March and October 2020, Mindy and her team shopped for supplies themselves.
At the beginning of the pandemic when certain food items were limited, Mindy and the Pantry team spread out across Charlotte and the surrounding area to purchase items such as rice, canned soup and beans. Shopping alone took multiple people more than eight hours a week each to complete, just to get the minimum needed to fulfill Pantry client requests. This was done at the time when there was a concern that items themselves might carry the virus, so each person was navigating personal protective gear, one-way aisles, distancing and cleaning protocols for themselves and the items they were purchasing for the Pantry clients.
Mindy also recognizes the support the Pantry received from across Student Affairs during a time when her team was short-staffed. “I appreciate everyone who has shopped and helped fill orders,” she said. “This includes Michelle Guobadia, Director for Fraternity and Sorority Life; Brian Holcomb, Assistant Director for Trips for Venture Outdoor Leadership; Karen Shaffer, Assistant Vice Chancellor for Student Affairs; Melissa Knutsen, Assistant Director for Fraternity and Sorority Life; Karen Martin, Business Services Coordinator for Popp Martin Student Union and Erin Bentrim, Divisional Director for Research and Assessment."
Mindy’s work and leadership as the pandemic changed day-to-day life didn’t end with the Pantry.
While overseeing the Pantry’s urgent need, she continued to carry out her duties as director of L&CE, an office that oversees a broad range of student leadership programs, a position she has held for her 28 years at UNC Charlotte. The office also provides students with opportunities to engage in the broader Charlotte community, region and beyond through volunteer and service work. Much of that programming was moved to a virtual format this year, a huge transition within itself.
“My working definition of leadership includes the ability to create positive change. I believe the entire Leadership & Community Engagement team did just that this year not only through work at the Pantry but also with leadership and service programs,” she said. “This team shifted to virtual classrooms and facilitated weekly leadership cohort programs without skipping a beat. And they worked to create ways for students to serve the community. They then took on the extra work of shopping, staffing and filling orders at the Pantry at a time when the state told everyone to stay at home. So, while I’m the one receiving this [Employee of the Year] award, the entire team deserves recognition.”
But for students facing food insecurity, the Pantry represents one of the most critical support services the University provides with a direct impact on academic and personal success.
“Mindy led these efforts because they were needed for our students and our campus community, because she is devoted to the UNC Charlotte community,” Shaffer said. "Every day, the L&CE team continues to ensure that students have what they need to be successful — whether it be a package of crackers, a toothbrush, a session on how to effectively lead a team or an opportunity to support the greater Charlotte community through service in a nonprofit organization — because of their unselfish devotion to our community, on campus and off.”