Deaira Lloyd is a double major studying Anthropology and Sociology and will be receiving her Certificate in the Social Dimensions of Health. She is in the BA/MA program of Applied Sociology and will be graduating this spring.

Prior to joining Retriever Essentials, Fariha, the Program Coordinator/CCMA AmeriCorps VISTA, invited me to join the team as a Student Ambassador. Interestingly, around that time, I wanted to become more involved on campus and was reading about various organizations at UMBC. I felt that her initiation was my calling. 
 
I was not aware of the duties of the role, the term “food insecurity”, or the number of students at UMBC that suffered from it. After our first meeting last fall, I was intrigued to learn about the term and what I could do to eliminate it throughout college students’ experiences. 
 
My role as a Student Ambassador, PRAC Leader, and Food Pantry Manager has awakened me to the little things that add up to a life changing outcome. Initiatives such as the save-a-swipe program, donating non-perishable food items, and the volunteers transporting goods to numerous food zones has taught me the importance of working together to support a greater cause. It’s crucial that students who suffer from food insecurity are able to have a sense of belonging on campus, especially to a group that acknowledges and supports them.
 
Retriever Essentials has taught me that you can always help someone. Sharing a message, a canned good, time, support, anything, is worthy. This experience has made me perceive life more delicately as I witness students coming into the pantry creating their own food bag. You truly never know the struggles that someone is experiencing, and how your service helps them by simply being there. 
Being able to support a community of students who are in need of nutrition and other necessities is a very gracious, thoughtful, and moving feeling. I’m excited for the continuous expansion and purpose of Retriever Essentials, and I’m thankful for this humbling experience. 

Save-a-Swipe is a partnership between Retriever Essentials, Chartwells, and Campus Card Services which allows you to donate 5 or 10 swipes from your meal plan that can be used by students who are experiencing food insecurity. Please share your extra meal swipes with your peers in need before the swipes expire.

Sign up to donate your excess meals until Feb 14, 2020, Friday. 

Click here or go to the link below to make your donation. 

Fehintola Elizabeth Bright-Awonuga: Coming to UMBC as a freshman last school year I became affiliated with Retriever Essentials through the Shriver Center’s PRAC 096. I have volunteered with Retriever Essentials for two years now and I am now a part of the Student Leadership Board. I have the growth over the past two years and the impact it has had on the lives of fellow faculty, staff, and students. I do not regret my decision of joining this team because I have seen the first-hand the seed this organization has sown. The seed is continuing to sprout, grow, and blossom into something bigger than it once was.

Alex Gwizdala: Volunteering with Retriever Essentials was a great way for me to feel connected to the UMBC community. As a first-semester freshman, I was feeling out of place on campus when the semester started. When I started volunteering, I felt much more involved in the community. Being able to meet so many great people and knowing that my work was having an impact was an amazingly rewarding experience.

Stephen Isabell: Retriever essentials is a necessity. Retriever Essentials is full of love, teamwork, and community. While volunteering for Retriever Essentials, I felt every one of those things I felt so empowered that I am apart of the solution to ending food security. No one should have to go hungry in this world.

Stephanie Koshy: I started volunteering at Retriever Essentials at the beginning of my first semester at UMBC. When starting college, I wanted to find an organization that I could volunteer at that was similar to the volunteer work I did at my high school. Luckily, I was able to find that Retriever Essentials, I have enjoyed working with Retriever Essentials to help other students on campus overcome food insecurity. I learned a lot about food insecurity and how we can combat this worldwide problem through Retriever Essentials at UMBC. I look forward to volunteering in the Spring.

Brian Lynch: Working with Retriever Essentials made me feel fulfilled. Everyone I worked with was part of a larger community helping those in need. I enjoyed sauntering around campus in the crisp fall air to deliver and pick up food bags. Moving shelves to the new pantry was an exciting time as well. Retriever Essentials made me realize the problem of food insecurity on campus and how to address it.

Zara Mahmood: Retriever Essentials has been a great group to work with in my first year as a UMBC student. Working with them has made me feel integrated in the school. Being a part of such an amazing group that impacts so many lives has been a wonderful experience. Everyone in Retriever Essentials is very welcoming which makes it better.

Dera Osuigwe: Have you ever felt the love of a community? Have you ever seen people from different works of life come together to tackle a problem? Have you ever seen people so passionate about what they do? Well, let me tell you, I HAVE!! Retriever Essentials is a place where people give their time and joy. It is a place where students come from a community to help the community. Retriever Essentials is a program that shows unity, love, and gratitude.

Sabtain Saroya: Retriever Essential is a community of like-minded individuals influencing the broader UMBC community in an impactful way. This amazing organization is setting a precedent for what it means to/how to fight the issue of food insecurity.

Zoe Smith: Retriever Essentials is an incredibly unique experience. Although the distribution of the food bags is anonymous and done by campus partners, rather than the pantry itself, it is still incredibly easy to see the impact of the program. From seeing food fly off the shelves as campus partners request more bags to deliver the bags and seeing how excited the staff are for the new bags the appreciation for Retriever Essentials is evident and helps you feel that you really are helping to make a difference in your own community.