UNLV receives $250K federal grant to expand food pantry

UNLV has received a $250,000 federal grant to expand its food pantry and nutrition center.

The funding, from the federal CARES Act, will allow UNLV’s Cares Food Pantry to buy food, equipment and implement a new online ordering system, the university said in a statement Wednesday. It will also be used to provide nutrition education to local residents.

About UNLV 250 students and employees receive help from the Cares Food Pantry each month, the university said in a news release. “Due to an increase in food insecurity throughout the Las Vegas area exacerbated by the pandemic, its food supply has been stretched thin,” it said.

Grant money distributed by the Nevada Department of Agriculture will allow UNLV’s pantry to have regular hours and consistent staffing, the university said.

The food pantry is at UNLV’s Paradise campus, 851 E. Tropicana Ave., Building 600.

For more information about UNLV’s food pantry, visit unlv.edu/integratedhealth/food-pantry.

A new software system will allow UNLV students and employees to order items online, either for pickup or delivery.

“With a good majority of the students and staff learning or working remotely, this will allow us to fulfill our mission and serve even more people with enhanced safety protocols,” UNLV Cares Food Pantry coordinator Tanner Ellingsen said in the news release.

In late April, UNLV announced it will distribute more than $11.8 million in federal CARES Act money to students. Grants are either $500 or $1,000.

Chris Heavey, UNLV’s interim executive vice president and provost, said in a July 1 Twitter post that more than $1 million in CARES Act money has been awarded, but not accepted by students.

Students should check the MyUNLV online portal, he said. The deadline to accept the funding is July 15.

Contact Julie Wootton-Greener at jgreener@reviewjournal.com or 702-387-2921. Follow @julieswootton on Twitter.