Given how expensive meal plans can be, many college students are forced to go with the bare minimum or forgo the use of one altogether. Which means that finding food can become a bit of a challenge.

To help make this a bit easier, a college student at Alabama A&M University took some ambition, a call to service and $40 to turn his own dorm room into a food pantry. 

“I started with pretty much just noodles and Capri Suns and I had a few household products like tissue and water,” Justin Franks told WHNT.

“It got a lot of response,” Franks said to describe how the story took on a life of it own on social media. “It got shared 600-700 times and so it got around the internet.”

Word of mouth and a few clicks is all it took for Franks to get donations from all over to give him enough food and supplies to turn his generous idea into a resource the entire community could use.

He currently has enough food for students to claim three items twice a week and is training someone to maintain the pantry long after he graduates.


Photo Credit: WHNT Screenshot