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The University of Maine’s Black Bear Exchange, a program of the Bodwell Center for Service and Volunteerism, officially opened its new location in the back of Estabrooke Hall on Nov. 16.
The exchange will be open Wednesdays from 7 a.m. to 1 p.m. and Thursdays from noon to 5:30 p.m.
The Black Bear Exchange, originally conceived as part food pantry and part clothing swap, was formerly located in the Farm Store building adjacent to Hitchner Hall. The building provided limited space for the exchange to operate and food production that is done in the Farm Store prohibited the sale of clothing there. Clothing swaps had to be done in the Memorial Union and could only be arranged occasionally.
With clothing donations piling up and no space to expand, the Black Bear Exchange was in need of a new location. This summer, the university identified the vacant space in the back of Estabrooke Hall as a suitable location where clothing could be sold during store hours.
Lisa Morin, coordinator of the Bodwell Center, said student volunteers helped move and sort items during Fall Welcome Weekend and UMaine Cares Weekend earlier this semester.
She said the new location is convenient for students who live on campus and offers privacy for community members who were hesitant to visit the exchange at its previous, more visible location.
The exchange is unique because unlike most food pantries, it does not have an income requirement for patrons. Many pantries serve only people whose income is at or below the poverty line.
“We definitely want to keep restrictions to a minimum,” Morin said. “If people feel they have a need, that’s a need we want to meet.”
Morin said a variety of assistance programs don’t recognize students because education is a choice. The Black Bear Exchange operates under a different philosophy.
“We want to support students in making that choice,” she said. “We want to help them finish their programs and get their degrees. It’s not a bad thing to need a little help.”
Providing free assistance without the help of larger food banks is not an easy feat.
“Because we don’t receive that assistance, it is hard for us to maintain a well-stocked food pantry,” said Lauren Cappuccio, a fourth-year education student. “We could fix that by making a requirement but that would defeat our purpose.”
Cappuccio works for the Bodwell Center as coordinator of the Black Bear Exchange. The exchange was established by an AmeriCorps volunteer three years ago and has been maintained by Bodwell Center staff since.
The pantry is stocked by student organizations’ food drives and by monetary donations.
“Every once in a while we can go to the store ourselves and get a case of this, a case of that, and supplement what we’re running low on,” Cappuccio said.
Last year Morin established a “clean sweep sale,” which raised $1,700 for Bodwell Center programs, primarily the Black Bear Exchange. The Bodwell Center collected and sorted all of the items left behind in residence halls after students moved out and sold them in a large yard sale.
“To be able to raise money to support the food pantry from things that would have been thrown away and that the university would have had to pay dumping fees to dispose of is amazing,” Morin said.
The Bodwell Center staff has found it has more donations than it needs for the clothing exchange. They encourage students to not only donate, but swap their items for items others have brought using the point system the exchange has established. Alternatively, visitors can make a suggested donation of one dollar for an item of clothing.
Cappuccio said the Black Bear Exchange is open for undergraduate and graduate students, staff, faculty and any member of the community who needs help.
“I know so many people who are having a hard time, and for many of them it’s the first time they’ve needed help,” she said.
Recognizing the idea of visiting a food pantry is intimidating for some, staff try to make the experience as much like grocery shopping as possible. The exchange does not track names or demographics of the people who visit them.
“I get to work with people one on one and see them,” Cappuccio said. “It’s a good feeling to know that you’re not just providing food, you’re there to say ‘it’s OK.’”
According to Cappuccio, the Bodwell Center works to provide quality food for the exchange pantry including protein sources, whole grains and low-sugar cereals.
“The idea is that people don’t just deserve to have food, they deserve to have good quality food,” she said.
The pantry can’t provide all the makings of a well-balanced diet, but only nonperishables, Cappuccio said.
“We hope that by eliminating these costs, people can afford to go out and purchase eggs, milk, vegetables and other perishables,” she said.
The Black Bear Exchange limits visitors to 15 items a week and discourages them from taking too many of the same item.
“We encourage people to take a well-rounded variety in the nicest way possible,” Cappuccio said.
Cappuccio said many people who benefit from the exchange choose to give back when they can with money, donated items or volunteer hours. One such person is Yvonne Kaisinger, a graduate student in English and ecology who volunteers at the exchange every Wednesday.
“I came here once to get food from the exchange and asked about volunteer opportunities,” Kaisinger said. “I have time and wanted to give back. I always come with a friend and it works out perfectly.”
The exchange is staffed primarily by the Bodwell Center. Student groups often help by organizing food drives or service projects, but the exchange struggles to find individual volunteers who can staff the location on a regular schedule. Cappuccio hopes the new location will change that.
“I hope that we get more support from the organizations and people that go here. We’re a concrete entity now, a physical place, a landmark,” she said. “People can see that we’re going to be around for a while and we’re something worth helping.”
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