Most elementary school students dedicate their time to standard, age-appropriate activities, such as playing with dolls or participating in recreational sports. Eva Kanchuger, a junior biological sciences major, spent her young days volunteering with the local Heart to Heart food pantry in Columbus, Ohio. Her first-hand experiences with clients — helping them navigate the pantry, providing them with valuable resources and hearing their individual stories — were endlessly rewarding, so when she arrived at Clemson for her freshman year, she made it a priority to bring that special piece of home with her. This is when she discovered Paw Pantry.
Clemson University’s Paw Pantry is part of a collaborative effort within the community to reduce food insecurity and promote well-being. The pantry operates out of Sirrine Hall room 233 from 8 a.m.-8 p.m. on weekdays, as well as on Sundays from 2-8 p.m. The resources within the pantry are available to any individual with a valid CUID.
This is Kanchuger’s third year with Paw Pantry, during which she has served as a volunteer, volunteer coordinator, and now currently serves as one of the co-directors. In her role, she shops for the pantry, keeps track of donations, manages the inventory software and more. Above all else, her background in service has taught her to lead with understanding and compassion. “Something that Clemson always focuses on is ‘Everyone’s family,’ so we all make sure to apply that when we’re at the pantry,” she says.
The pantry has a wide assortment of different supplies designed to meet the basic needs of students. The shelves are stocked with foods (pasta, canned goods, rice, cereal), personal hygiene items (soap, toothpaste, shampoo, conditioner), household items (paper towels, detergent, toilet paper) and school supplies (used textbooks, binders, pencils). The pantry operates on a credit system: each item is assigned a value between 0.25 and 2 credits, and participating students receive a maximum of 15 credits per day to spend on what they require.
Since its inception in January 2016, Paw Pantry has grown tremendously, which has allowed the program to extend aid to a broader student population. Most recently, the pantry saw nearly 1,200 visits from 225 unique students over the 2024 Fall semester — reflecting primarily an increased awareness of the resource among students.
The pantry’s first home was a simple office closet; since then, it has seen an array of different locations before settling on its current residence in Sirrine. Now, the primary goal for Kate Radford — a member of the original creative team behind Paw Pantry and current executive director for the Center for Student Leadership and Engagement — is outreach.
“There are two arms to the outreach process,” she says. “One is to potential clients of the pantry — people that might be needing the resource. Then, to the rest of our community — how do we best support the students who are using the pantry, and how do we address food insecurity?”
Paw Pantry is a unique and valuable opportunity for student volunteers to develop leadership skills by offering hands-on experience to make a difference in their community. Radford offers her own definition of leadership as it relates to the pantry. “I think being able to feel like you’re contributing back and making a difference is what leadership is all about,” she says. “We can sit in a room and talk about leadership — in a workshop, for example — but this is an opportunity to put that into practice and to feel a sense of giving back to a community that many students feel has given a lot to them.”
One of the University’s primary goals is to promote well-being across campus, and Paw Pantry aligns directly with this initiative. Kanchuger emphasizes the pantry’s role in meeting a foundational need, so students feel more comfortable on campus and can be successful during their time at Clemson.
Radford follows with, “I always describe it as consistent with Clemson’s ethic of care. We talk about the Clemson family caring about each other — to me, Paw Pantry is one of the visible ways we show how our community cares about one another.”
When asked about their goals for the pantry looking forward, both revealed high hopes for the future. Kanchuger expresses a desire for broader outreach and “just getting the word out,” as she believes more branches of the University can be involved in the project. Radford’s five-year plan is broader; she hopes to, as a campus, be part of a larger conversation about food insecurity and work towards resolving the issue at its root.