ONE NSU MAGAZINE heart, because I’ve never had to go to bed hungry.” With the disturbing sight still fresh in her mind, Kevorkian contacted Katie Gittleman, M.S., director of STEM initiatives and outreach, and several others on her team that afternoon “It broke my heart, because I’ve never had to go to bed hungry.” with a novel idea—to open a food pantry for students in an empty office in the College of Computing and Engineering. “We brought in shelves, went to Costco to get various items, and started the NSU Shark Food Pantry,” recalled Kevorkian of the rapid learning process involved with understanding what was required to operate a food pantry. NEED NECESSITATES EXPANSION While opening the food pantry in the College of Computing and Engineering was a terrific start, Kevorkian and her team realized more needed to be done, including moving the operation to a more central location. With the help of Marc Croquet, M.B.A., vice president for business services, the Shark Pantry was relocated to the Rick Case Arena’s South Concession Stand located on the second floor of the Don Taft University Center. “We wanted to be sensitive to the fact that there’s a lot of stigma associated with admitting you’re hungry and need help. We wanted to find a location that was central, but off the beaten path, so it didn’t appear obvious that students were walking in to get food or other items needed for basic health,” Kevorkian explained. “Because we’re a private, not-for-profit university, the assumption is that most of our students have the means to support themselves and take care of everything,” she added. 50
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