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Stephen Luber sits patiently in a rolling desk chair with an open magazine across his knees. Tucked between a dark maple desk and floor to ceiling wooden shelves, Luber seems to fit in to the windowless Cornucopia food pantry with his comfortable demeanor.
Whitewashed pipes run along the ceiling of the room, making the closet-turned-food pantry seem even narrower. Luber waits patiently for customers to come in from the loading dock at the back of Christensen Hall. A white plastic sign set up outside the hall is the only indicator of the pantry. However, when customers do visit, Luber is ready to assist them in any way. Luber, Manager for Housing Facilities and Operations, is the volunteer coordinator at the pantry and tries to help out at least once a week.
Countless cans of vegetables and soup line the shelves of the on-campus food bank, Cornucopia. The pantry is open twice a week and Luber may help two or three people each time with the food. Cornucopia opened its doors in 1997 to serve the growing problem of hunger in the Durham community. According to UNH Chaplin Larry Brickner-Wood, the pantry serves about three to five families per week. Cornucopia is open Wednesday evenings from 4 to 5:30 p.m. and Fridays between noon and 4:30 p.m.
Although the pantry may be helpful for many American-born residents, Brickner-Wood has noticed that it can't meet everyone's needs. While assisting an international student from Africa in the pantry, Brickner-Wood noticed how little she had taken.
"She told me that 'we may be poor in my country, but we eat fresh food.' This was a great learning experience for us," he said.
Cornucopia has since tried to incorporate more fresh food to their pantry. They often receive fresh eggs, bread, and organic vegetables from local growers. Community dinners are other functions that Brickner-Wood has since helped start up through Campus Ministry. This Sunday, a community Thanksgiving celebration will be held at the Waysmeet Center from 5 to 7 p.m.
However, Durham residents aren't the only ones struggling to make ends meet. The UNH Cooperative Extension reported that although New Hampshire has the fourth-highest median household income in the nation, hunger is still a growing issue. In 2000, 36,266 New Hampshire residents received food stamps, and by 2004, that number had risen to 48,449.
Just like the rising need for food stamps, Cornucopia's services have increased dramatically in recent years. Brickner-Wood attributes the increased use to skyrocketing gas prices and steady rent increases along the seacoast.
Survey results released in December by the National Low Income Housing Coalition indicate that to afford a two-bedroom apartment in New Hampshire, a worker must earn $16.75 per hour, more than three times the federal minimum wage.
"Rent increases effect food bills," said Brickner-Wood. "It really hits the lower end of the pay scale at UNH."
Users of the on-campus pantry range from staff members, to students, to community members. But Brickner-Wood sees Cornucopia as more of a transition than a dependent service.
"This food pantry is different, the expectation is that [customers] won't be using it for the rest of their lives. This is a bridge to a different life," he said.
One of Cornucopia's most successful food-drives happens around the Thanksgiving season. Holiday food baskets are donated by community members and distributed to requesting families. When the drive was started in 1998, only 20 baskets were requested, this year, there are over 160 basket requests.
This year, Community Service and Leadership majors in the Thompson School of Applied Science will be playing an active role in the drive. Students will be performing a needs-based assessment and will be examining volunteer recruitment and resource management.
Student Brian Reed realizes the need for this type of service, but knows that it will not erase the problem.
"It would be endless to meet a need like this, but we can help one family at a time," said Reed.
To donate or request a Thanksgiving food basket, contact Rev. Larry Brickner-Wood at larry.brickner-wood@unh.edu. Requests are due by Nov. 18.
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