06/11/2026
At the Transforming Communities Institute, we're always looking for what community engagement looks like when it's built on mutual benefit. This is a stellar example at USU to highlight -- thanks The Herald Journal!
A year ago, Utah Food Bank brought an idea to USU's Student Nutrition Access Center- SNAC and Cache Community Food Pantry: a monthly mobile food pantry to reach more Cache Valley residents. One year in, the impact is clear:
🥫 2,000+ households served
📦 ~123,000 pounds of food distributed
🙌 282 volunteers
What makes this a model worth studying is the mutual benefit. This initiative was led by one of SNAC's student directors, Kaiah, as part of her senior capstone project. This effort runs on USU's physical assets — Parking & Transportation donates the Maverick Stadium lot and sets out the cones every month before sunrise. It runs on people power from USU and many community volunteers. And it's open to everyone in Cache Valley, not just campus.
It also lives out USU's land grant mission and puts the new strategic plan in action. The pantry advances the university's commitment to statewide impact — strengthening access and economic mobility for the communities we serve — while embodying the mission of learning, discovery, and engagement. A student-led project that delivers a real public good is exactly what "student success and value" looks like beyond the classroom. That's the heart of what we work toward: meeting a critical community need by leaning into the assets and talent an institution already has, in partnership with the community it serves.
Congratulations to the SNAC team on a remarkable first year. 👏
Next pantry: July 14, 9–10 a.m. at Maverick Stadium. Volunteers and word-of-mouth welcome.
Once a month Utah State University’s Student Nutrition Access Center hosts a mobile food pantry in collaboration with Utah Food Bank and Cache Community Food Pantry.
