Benny's Pantry
Spring 2025 Hours
Benny's Pantry observes all Idaho State University holidays
Pocatello: Pond Student Union Building, Room 120A (Next to the Craft Shop)
- Monday: 10:00 AM - 2:00 PM
- Tuesday: 10:00 AM - 4:00 PM
- Wednesday: 10:00 AM - 4:00 PM
- Thursday: 10:00 AM - 12:00 PM
- Friday: Closed
Idaho Falls: Bennion Student Union Building, Room 218
- Monday - Friday: 8 a.m. - 5 p.m.
Meridian: Skaggs Health Center, Room 512
- Monday: 11:30 a.m. - 1:30 p.m.
- Tuesday: 10:30 a.m - 12:30 p.m
- Wednesday: 10:30 a.m. - 12:30 p.m.
- Thursday: 10:30 a.m. - 12:30 p.m
Eligibility
Most active Idaho State University students, staff, and faculty are eligible to access Benny's Pantry (including College of Technology START students). Dual-enrolled high school students and spouses of students, staff, and faculty who are not students or employees are excluded. For individuals not meeting pantry eligibility requirements, community resources can be found at findhelpidaho.org or they can see if they meet SNAP qualifications.
Distribution
Participants must signed the Acceptance of Free Food Waiver during their first visit to Benny's Pantry. A valid Bengal ID card is required for every visit, which will be used to track the number of visits to the pantry each month (generally limited to once per week). Food and personal care items are distributed based on household size. A household includes the participant, domestic partner or spouse, and dependent children. Roommates do not count towards household size. No income information is required.
About Benny's Pantry
Mission
We recognize that poverty is often a barrier for students who are striving to obtain a certification or degree in higher education. One of the many hardships associated with poverty is food insecurity (the lack of access to enough safe and nutritious food). We believe that by alleviating food insecurity where it may exist, we empower our student community to focus on learning and discovery, thereby removing a significant barrier to persistence.
Goals
- Create a food secure community by offering emergency assistance of nutritious food to the ISU community.
- Educate the Idaho State community about issues related to poverty and hunger.
- Cultivate a culture of service minded leadership within the ISU community.
History
Benny's Pantry opened in Pocatello on January 20, 2014, as an initiative of the Student Affairs Division and was the state of Idaho's first college or university food pantry. Additional locations were opened on the Idaho Falls campus (2016) and the Meridian campus (2019). The pantries offer free, emergency food assistance directly to the Idaho State University community and are staffed by Student Affairs staff members and student employees.
Food Insecurity
For more information about local food insecurities, visit the Idaho Foodbank website.
How can I help?
Benny's Pantry thrives on the generosity of community members who contribute food, funds, and time. We appreciate support in each of these areas and invite you to contact us if you have additional ideas that will benefit our pantry.
Acceptable food donations include:
Benny's Pantry accepts nonperishable food and personal care items. We cannot accept expired items.
- Grains, rice, pasta, and beans
- Breakfast foods
- Canned or bottled soups and sauces
- Snack foods
- One pan meal kits
- Canned or dried vegetables and fruits
- Baking and pantry staples: flour, sugar, oil and butter/margarine
- Shelf-stable condiments
- Canned meats like tuna, chicken, deviled ham, etc.
- Spices and seasonings
- Tea, coffee, powdered juices, and water enhancers
- Personal care and hygiene products
- Infant/Toddler Items: formula, food, snacks, diapers, and wipes
Fresh produce is welcome at all times. If you have a home garden with excess offerings, we would be happy to accept them.
Please email us at pantry@isu.edu if you are interested in hosting a food drive or donating food.
We'd love to talk to you about how we can maximize the timing of your donation. Some months our pantry is flush with offerings and other months we are very lean. If the timing of your event or donation is flexible, we'd love to work with you to find the perfect window!
Students who find themselves with extra meals on their meal plan at the end of the semester can donate up to 10 meals to hungry students. Read more about the Bengal Meal Share Program.
These items are not frequently donated, but complement other items we get:
- Boxed or powdered milks can be used in many things and have a long shelf life
- Cake mix and frosting are helpful for families with young children
- Dish washing and laundry detergents are often expensive and always appreciated
- Cleaning and sanitizing supplies are wonderful additions for the pantry
- Feminine hygiene products
- Hand can-openers are really helpful for the many canned goods we receive
Community and/or One Time Donations
Tax-deductible monetary donations can be made on behalf of Benny's Pantry. Cash donations allow us to purchase high demand items as needed for distribution. We can buy these in bulk and choose items that expire at a later date. These funds allow us the flexibility of buying not only food items, but necessary equipment and other items that allows the pantry to continue to be an invaluable resource on campus. If you have the ability to donate, we would be extremely grateful.
ISU Employee Donations
Idaho State University employees who wish to donate funds to the pantry can also do so through as an automatic deduction from their paycheck. ISU makes it easy and convenient to contribute whatever amount is feasible for you. All you need to do is complete an Employee Payroll Deduction Authorization Form and list Benny's Pantry as your designation.
Time is valuable and we are grateful for anyone wishing to donate some of theirs to help Benny's Pantry.
Volunteer Needs
We have flexible volunteer shifts and varying needs based on the day of the week and time of year. The most common needs include: transportation of donated goods to the pantry from off-site locations to campus, bringing items into the pantry, restocking and maintaining inventory, assisting in building "kits", etc.
*All volunteers must complete a brief training and sign a confidentiality waiver.
Scheduling Time
Students and community members are welcome to schedule themselves for time to volunteer at the pantry.
Clubs and organizations wanting to meet their community service hours are welcome to set-up a time to bring their group over to help out at the pantry. At least one group member must be present throughout the duration of the scheduled activity. Groups may also be eligible to earn incentive points through ASISU by organizing donation drives.
Interested parties can schedule themselves for dates and times that are convenient for them!
Thank you to our partners!
Benny's Pantry would like to thank the generous donors that allow us to support our ISU community. We couldn't do it without you!
The Idaho Foodbank typically provides the core staples that are the foundation of our pantry offerings. The Foodbank also connected us with the local food rescue program. Food rescue is a partnership with grocers that allows us to distribute food (often perishable) to those who are in need of food, while also preventing unnecessary waste. Benny's Pantry benefits from Smith's and Fred Meyer's participation in this amazing program.
We are also grateful to local businesses such as Grocery Outlet and Amy's Kitchen. Grocery outlet provides us with generous donations, allows us to set-up a donation table on a monthly basis at their store, and has shared their access to their discounted rates when we need to purchase additional food for the pantry. Amy's Kitchen has provided our pantry with soup, a much needed nutritious food as winter descends on our region.
The College of Arts and Letters Dean's Advisory Board (DAB), has committed to supporting Benny's Pantry in our efforts help students be successful, by reducing hunger. They have donated funds, purchased gift cards, purchased an additional pantry refrigerator, and visited the pantry to help better understand our needs, while also helping us to stock our shelves.
Last, but not least, we would like to thank our unbelievably kind individual donors. We are luck enough to have wonderful donors who support us in a myriad of ways. Establishing on-going cash and food donations, providing one-time cash and food donations, in-kind purchases of equipment and providing of services, change collections jars, sharing excess food from abundant gardens and backyard chickens, coordinating fundraisers and donation events in departments and at businesses, and so much more. Every single penny, every single can of soup, every minute of volunteer time is cherished by Benny's Pantry. Thank you all for your compassion, thoughtfulness, and commitment to supporting our Bengals!
If your business or organization is interested in developing a partnership to benefit the Bengal Family, please reach out to our Student Care and Assistance Coordinator, and Benny's Pantry Manager, Lesa Crawford at lesacrawford@isu.edu.