With the holidays approaching, this is a season of practicing gratitude, giving back and eating delicious food. For many in East Alabama though, food insecurity complicates the season. Food insecurity, the lack of reliable access to affordable and nutritious food, affects at least 16% of Lee County. In times of need, Auburn offers plenty of ways to get involved and give back to the community.
The Campus Kitchen
Located in Lupton Hall in the Quad residence halls, the Campus Kitchen is a student-run organization that utilizes surplus food to feed Auburn and Opelika residents.
“We pick up leftover food from dining halls, social events, chain restaurants on campus and bring it back to Lupton. We repackage it into single-serve meals, and then we redistribute them to all of our community partners,” said Katherina Contrucci, senior in business analytics and Campus Kitchen’s vice president of campus operations.
Its location in the heart of campus gives students easy access to their resources, but Campus Kitchen does not stop there. The foundation serves the entire Auburn-Opelika community. They partner with 20 organizations to ensure that meals reach everyone in the Auburn-Opelika community. Some of these partners include Meals on Wheels, Auburn Family Meals, churches and retirement homes.
When students volunteer with Campus Kitchen, they can choose to work in pickup, packaging or delivery. Pickup entails taking golf carts to retrieve leftover food and then bringing it back to Lupton Hall to be weighed and frozen. Shift leaders and executive members are able to work in packaging, where they sort the food into single-serve meals. Then, the meals are delivered.
“I have two people in Opelika that I go and deliver meals to,” said shift leader Landon Cox. “One is an elderly woman who’s got Parkinson’s. She recently broke her hand. In my second family, the husband has Parkinson’s, and the wife is the caregiver. They’re always really appreciative of me and my other shift leader every time we go.”
For student-run organizations like Campus Kitchen, they do more than support community members in need. Being a part of a common cause has given many students an opportunity to get involved while meeting others with similar values.
“From someone who never really fit in well in her sorority, being able to come to Campus Kitchen always felt like a breath of fresh air,” Contrucci said.
The easiest way to get involved with Campus Kitchen, either for resources or volunteer opportunities, is to sign up through their AUInvolve.
Beat Bama Food Drive
In this competition between rivals Auburn and Alabama, no one loses. Beat Bama Food Drive (BBFD) was founded in 1994 as a way to encourage the Auburn community to donate non-perishable food to the Food Bank of East Alabama through creating friendly competition against the University of Alabama and the West Alabama Food Bank.
This year, the 32nd Beat Bama Food Drive took place from Oct. 3 to Nov. 20. Auburn has won the competition the past three years, collecting 908,928 pounds of food in 2024 and 648,305 pounds of food in 2025. All collections go to food banks, low-income daycares, rehabilitation centers and senior programs. No matter which side wins the competition, residents of both East and West Alabama will benefit from it.
Students are able to join BBFD anytime through their AUInvolve. Community members can donate during their annual drive leading up to the Iron Bowl.
Food Bank of East Alabama
The Food Bank of East Alabama provides food to residents across seven counties, including Lee County. The Food Bank operates as a location to both purchase and collect food. From there, the food is inspected, packaged and delivered to the intended recipients. Recipients include the Food Bank’s 200 partners, which consist of food pantries, group homes, shelters and children’s programs.
During the cut of SNAP benefits in early November, the Food Bank experienced a rush of need that has yet to calm down.
“It felt similar to the panic during a natural disaster,” said Martha Henk, director of the Food Bank of East Alabama. “It hasn’t really gone back to normal, especially with the new requirements being enforced.”
In this time of crisis though, volunteers in East Alabama stepped up.
“Half of our calls were asking where to get help, and the other half were asking how they could help,” said Henk.
Food, funds and time are the best way to give back to the Food Bank. Volunteers can inspect, pack and distribute food donations, and every dollar donated to the Food Bank can obtain the equivalent of seven meals.
The Food Bank of East Alabama is located in Auburn Industrial Park. For assistance, the nearest food pantry supported by the Food Bank can be found through its partner agencies.
In Alabama, one in four children are food insecure. These organizations are taking steps to lower this number across the state and in the Auburn area not only for children but for all residents. As holidays that celebrate gratitude are near, consider giving your time or resources to one of these programs and fighting against hunger.
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Layla Hyatt, sophomore double majoring in journalism and public and professional writing, is from Mobile, Alabama. She has been with The Auburn Plainsman since the fall of 2025.
