Hurricane Helene and Milton, which struck the southeast in quick succession earlier this fall, caused unprecedented disruptions on college campuses across the region, with many university populations facing significantly elevated food insecurity. At Stetson University in DeLand, Florida our Campus Compact AmeriCorps VISTA Member, August, leveraged their position at the campus food pantry, assisting in the post-Milton recovery efforts.
Hurricane Milton, which made landfall in Florida as a category 3 storm on October 9th, 2024, shut down Stetson’s campus for a week, forcing the evacuation of all students, faculty, and staff. The closure left food services in disarray - fridges and freezers had to be cleared and perishable food was discarded. Many Stetson students, especially those who relied on on-campus jobs, faced increased food insecurity and a week’s loss of income.
Unlike Hurricane Helene, which only shut down campus for one day in September of this semester, Milton’s week-long closure suspended meal plans and closed dorms.Prior to the campuses closure, the Heather Pantry, a client choice pantry on campus and the site of August’s VISTA service, quickly tried to give away as much food as possible. However, with widespread flooding and power outages across Volusia County, many students returned to campus a week later with a lack of access to food and resources.
August, a second year VISTA at Stetson University, took the lead in organizing emergency food assistance, coordinating with student volunteers and staff. Between October 13-18th, volunteers made 5 trips to grocery stores, spending nearly $2,000 to meet the high need for food. The pantry was emptied within the day. To restock supplies, Stetson quickly leveraged funds from the Student Government Association to purchase an additional $3,000 worth of groceries. With the help of an on-call team made up of Resident Advisors and staff members, the food was purchased and distributed to food insecure students returning to campus. Eight members of the Alpha Tau Omega fraternity also played a crucial role in the days after the storm, taking regular trips to the food bank to ensure the pantry remained stocked for students in need.
The immediate response to Milton depleted the Heather Pantry’s supplies. As the focus shifted from response to long-term recovery and building back better, the Stetson community joined together to rebuild the food pantry.
Before the storm, plans were already underway to move the pantry to a larger, more accessible location within the Student Union Building - a move that would also make the pantry more sustainable in the long term. On November 8th, Stetson hosted its President Doug and Margaret Lee Day of Service, during which 20 students and staff volunteered to move 1,000 pounds of food from Second Harvest Food Bank to Heather Pantry’s new and improved location.
The Heather Pantry officially reopened on November 15th, 2024, and is now fully 
operational. The new pantry is three times the size of the original, with two refrigerators, two deep freezers, and significantly more shelf space. As the Student Union Building runs on generators, the pantry will no longer face the risk of having to throw away perishable food or start over after power outages. The rebuilding of Stetson’s food pantry after Hurricane Milton shows the power of community collaboration, volunteerism, and service, exemplifying recovery efforts that achieve the gold standard of building back better. August’s service adds to the ongoing legacy of VISTA Members that address food insecurity and build capacity for initiatives that address hunger.
This snapshot is a testament to how dedicated our Campus Compact AmeriCorps VISTA Members are to transforming the spaces they serve in by building sustainable solutions and leaving a lasting impact on the campuses and communities they support.
