By KRISTEN KIRTLEY
Assistant Editor
“Our mission it to simply be there for people in need,” Angelia Case, who serves as the campus cabinet coordinator, said.
Along with serving as the cabinet coordinator during her volunteer time, Case is also the academic projects and media specialist and assistant to the dean of faculty.
For those in need, the cabinet provides food products, hygiene products, bedding such as sheets and blankets, coats and school supplies.
Every Northwestern student and employee is eligible for the cabinet’s services, and there are no financial restrictions.
When a student comes to the cabinet, proof of enrollment is the only thing that is asked of them.
Proof of enrollment can be shown by simply logging in to blackboard or self-service and the student showing that he or she is enrolled in at least one class for the current semester.
Students can bring a printed copy of their schedule as well.
Proof of enrollment is only asked for once every semester, and after that, each student must complete a food request form and schedule an appointment each time they want to visit the cabinet.
The last thing a student must do is submit a first-time users form. The information on the form gives the cabinet demographics to work with and also help them with any reporting that needs to be done.
Case explained that collecting demographics is helpful for when the cabinet visits different groups to introduce themselves and talk about why they do what they do.
She mentioned that no names are given when speaking about student demographics.
Appointments at the cabinet begin at 5 PM on Wednesday’s, and are scheduled for every ten minutes.
But if someone can’t make it on a Wednesday, alternate appointments can be made.
The cabinet recently applied for a mini-grant with the Northwest Oklahoma Bank It program that is located in Alva. Case said the grant money will be used for supplies for the cabinet.
“We appreciate the support from our local people, the Bank It program has been wonderful to us,” Case said. “Without our donors, we can’t do what we do, and we want to show our gratitude.”
Case mentioned that this isn’t the first grant the cabinet has received from Bank It, and said it’s nice to know that a local group supports the cabinet’s mission.
“We hope that by giving a hand up, our campus cabinet family will be able to stay in school, pay bills and go on to be incredibly valuable assets to whatever community they’re in,” Case said. “We hope that in time, when they can, they’ll pay the kindness forward in whatever helpful manner they choose.”
The Campus Cabinet is partnering with Northwestern Athletics, Saturday at the home basketball game for a donation/non-perishable food drive.
The cabinet is asking fans attending the game to bring at least two items from the pantry’s most needed list.
Volunteers from the cabinet will also have baked goods for a Goodie Giveaway table. Tickets for the chance to win items will be three tickets for $1. Last month the cabinet spent over $1000.
