The Sam Houston State University food pantry is one step closer to becoming a legitimate resource for students on campus. The planning committee had a meeting on Friday in which they discussed the search for a physical location and leadership for the program.

We all have personal experiences with students who are food-insecure, said Bernice Strauss, Director of Academic Support Programs. Our next step is setting up an executive committee of students.

The pantry is adopting a student organization model, which will allow students to be in charge of its actions and provisions.

Vice President for Student Services Frank Parker said the program has received support from both students and school faculty. Parker expressed support for the program in late December, while the faculty senate has backed the pantry since its inception.

Eric Unfried, a freshman accounting major, said, Id definitely love to help out, even with something as simple as donating food would be awesome.

Alongside the quest for bureaucracy is the search for a location to store the food and make it available for the students in need.

Space on this campus is at a premium, said Parker. When we look at spaces, some of the issues that we think about are spaces that retain [a students] anonymity, spaces where students come and go and that are available and open on the weekend.

While the committee talked about specific venues on campus for the pantry, they failed to comment on which facilities were in mind.

I think it would be disrespectful to the people responsible for those sights to say anything more specific before we talk to them, said Parker.

The pantry hopes to be available to students by Fall 2013.