UPDATED: Jan. 28, 2020 at 12:24 p.m.

Syracuse University’s Student Association will donate $10,000 to the Hendricks Chapel Food Pantry, the organization announced Monday.

Mackenzie Mertikas, SA president, and Sameeha Saied, vice president, announced the donation during Monday’s Assembly meeting. The $10,000 will go toward the food pantry’s administrative fund, Mertikas said.

The $10,000 will come from SA’s rollover funds. Rollover funds are comprised of funds leftover from previous semesters that can be used at the discretion of the president, vice president and comptroller. All three officers must sign off on any use of rollover funds.

While the fund is ordinarily used for concerts and other major events, SA wanted to use a portion of the fund to support students in need, Mertikas and Saied said.

“We just wanted to be spending (the funds) in ways that give back directly to the campus community,” Mertikas said. “It will be spent on food and other supplies, and all the logistics of the food pantry to help sustain it because students are in need.”

The Hendricks Chapel Food Pantry provides food and personal care items to students at SU and SUNY-ESF. The pantry, run by Syeisha Byrd — director of Office Engagement Programs at the chapel — can serve students on a regular or one-time basis. The pantry recently expanded to open a second location on South Campus in fall 2019.

This is the first time SA has donated to the Hendricks Chapel Food Pantry, Mertikas said. SA hopes to further support the pantry through their “adopt a month” program, where they can sponsor a month’s worth of food for the pantry, she said.

“There are so many students on this campus who need it and struggle with food everyday,” Mertikas said in the assembly meeting. “The food pantry constantly needs pasta, sauces, meat, dairy products and fresh produce.”

SA’s Academic Affairs Committee also announced the creation of a study spot index for SU students. The index, which SA will make available online, will compile a list of study spaces in various academic buildings across campus. The site should be up by midsemester to avoid overcrowding in Bird and Carnegie Libraries during midterms, said Steph Hausman, co-chair of the Academic Affairs Committee.

CORRECTION: In a previous version of this post, Syeisha Byrd’s title was misstated. The Daily Orange regrets this error.

Published on January 28, 2020 at 1:02 am

Contact Mira: mlberenb@syr.edu