Innovation in the Face of a Pandemic
Michael Higgins, who began his studies at GS in 2015, co-founded The Food Pantry at Columbia to address food insecurity — when students do not have access to a reliable source of nutritious food or food that meets their dietary needs. Since The Food Pantry's founding in 2016, it has grown to serve all 20 schools and now operates through an e-commerce site, allowing for increased safety and disbursements during the COVID-19 pandemic.
From a young age, Michael Higgins was inspired to view situations through an entrepreneurial lens. “My mom instilled in me the passion to work,” he said. When Higgins began his studies at GS in 2015, he was already looking for ways to go beyond the minimum. “I’ve always looked for an opportunity to better things, whether it is myself or my surroundings,” Higgins said. In 2016, that chance presented itself in an unlikely way: food insecurity — when students do not have access to a reliable source of nutritious food or food that meets their dietary needs. It was this inspiration that started The Food Pantry at Columbia.
Higgins and his co-founder started The Food Pantry at Columbia out of a closet in the GS Student Lounge in Lewisohn Hall that was shared with two other organizations within the School. It quickly became evident, though, that food insecurity was not only a problem within the GS population, it affected every school within Columbia. Higgins knew that The Food Pantry at Columbia needed to expand its reach to many more students and began to reach out to organizations within the other schools in an effort to get the word out. This past year alone, they secured over $40,000 in perpetual funding allowing the pantry to grow substantially ($10,000 of which will be donated annually by the School of General Studies over the next several years and $5,000 of which was separately donated by the School in December 2020 in recognition and support of The Food Pantry at Columbia’s pandemic response efforts.)
The pantry is now bigger than me. It’s bigger than I could have ever imagined.
Having grown from a closet at its founding in 2016 to a multi-campus operation with locations on the Morningside, Medical Center, and Barnard campuses, The Food Pantry at Columbia continues to adapt in the face of the COVID-19 pandemic. “We had to change everything,” recalled Higgins. Before the pandemic, The Food Pantry at Columbia served all 20 schools at Columbia University with a team of volunteers who handed out disbursements to students in-person. However, beginning in March 2020, Higgins and the rest of The Food Pantry at Columbia team completely reconfigured the way they distribute food in order to minimize risk for customers and volunteers.
Now, instead of picking up disbursements in-person, a team of volunteers delivers orders submitted through the Food Pantry’s new website which allows more people to stay in their homes and minimize the risk of exposure. While the restructuring was arduous, it also completely revamped the way that the program will run now and into the future. “We are not going back to how things were. The e-commerce site is phenomenal,” Higgins said.
Now, with ongoing funding from the University, The Food Pantry at Columbia is going strong. At a time when food insecurity is rampant throughout the country, the program has been able to serve hundreds of students throughout New York City during the pandemic, who would have otherwise not had safe access.
Due to its success in reaching students and their impressive business model, The Food Pantry at Columbia’s influence has expanded beyond the reach of Columbia University. “It’s a catalyst for change in other Ivy League institutions and we’ve had other Ivy League schools reach out to us,” said Higgins.
The COVID-19 pandemic has shown Higgins the importance and growth of his nearly five-year-old project. It is no longer a small service, but a concrete part of the University that shows no signs of slowing down. Before the pandemic, The Food Pantry at Columbia was providing anywhere from 75-100 disbursements per month. Since the pandemic, however, the rate has nearly doubled. In 2020 alone, the Food Pantry provided over 2,700 disbursements, nearly matching the total of the previous years since its creation combined. Reflecting on how far The Food Pantry at Columbia has come brings Higgins tremendous pride and excitement for the future. “The pantry is now bigger than me. It’s bigger than I could have ever imagined,” he reflected.
To learn more about The Food Pantry at Columbia, visit thefoodpantry.studentgroups.columbia.edu.