When USF College of Arts and Sciences (CAS) advisors learned that the USF Feed-A-Bull food pantry was low on supplies, they decided it was time to fill a need.
Tarin Haydt with more donations to the pantry. (Photo courtesy of Tarin Haydt)
Advisors out of the School of Natural Sciences and Mathematics organized an all-Tampa CAS advisor drive in March and made it a friendly competition with their advising counterparts in the School of Social Sciences and School of Humanities.
The end result: 1,453 new food items to fill the shelves of the Feed-A-Bull food pantry.
“Tarin Haydt, lead biology advisor, was the driving force and MVP of the project,” said Autumn Mueller, director of academic advising.
The competition began in late February and closed in March, just before spring break to ensure the shelves were stocked again before the break.
“Our team is very competitive. We love to come together for a good cause. A little rivalry goes a long way!” Haydt said.
She coordinated efforts through Microsoft Teams and connected the large group in their efforts.
“That Teams chat was getting a little spicy toward the end of the competition – let’s just leave it at that! It’s all in good fun!”
According to Haydt, the CAS sciences advisors conducted a similar drive in December of 2022, and it was so successful that they were looking for an opportunity to expand it to the entire advising team.
Haydt said that each team came within just nine items of one another, with over 700 items donated by each group.
Mary Collins at the grocery store after colleagues pooled monetary donations. (Photo courtesy of Tarin Haydt)
“It’s amazing! We love being able to make a direct impact on our students’ lives – especially outside of academics, which is usually the core of our interactions,” Haydt said. “It helps us reinforce our advising practice as a holistic approach to our students as whole people with a variety of needs and goals.”
The Feed-A-Bull food pantry, managed by Student Health Services and Feeding America Tampa Bay, is open to any student in need and aims to address food insecurity so students can focus on their studies.
“It’s really unmeasurable the difference this can make for a student,” Haydt said. “We work with students in all life situations. Access to food is just something so basic that impacts everything else in a person’s life. There is no way to care for a person or serve them if that basic need is not met. We all have needed help and support at one time or another. Our team is just so happy that we are in a place to help maintain this amazing resource on our campus.”
Haydt said she looks forward to continuing these drives in the future.
“Our love for our students – and our commitment to serving and supporting them as whole, real people – not just students in a classroom, is our motivation,” she said.