In December 2024, Lin’s Grocery Store donated $20,000 worth of products to Utah Tech University’s Blazer Food Pantry, located at the Browning Learning Center. Donations included non-perishable food and hygiene products.
The assistant vice president and dean of students, Ali Threet, saw increasing costs for housing, food, transportation, tuition and fees.
In order to relieve economic stressors, Threet worked with the Student Resource Center to provide food for all students on campus through the Blazer Food Pantry.
Threet said: “We just know that hungry students—they are not going to be able to focus on school. They’re not going to be able to focus on the things that we want them to if they are just hungry all the time. So, we want to help with those basic needs.”
Lin’s was able to supply these needs, making it so that the Blazer Food Pantry is able to support more students for a longer period of time.
Dru Bottoms, director of the Student Resource Center, said the donation included—but was not limited to—high demand items such as spaghetti sauce, pasta and a pallet of hygiene products. Notably, the donation also included items that are not often attained through community or humanitarian aid, such as cereal and ramen noodles, which are highly preferred by students.
Lin’s Grocery Store has been in contact with Bottoms to assess products that are in demand, and will provide aid in those specific products. The donation is a part of a two-year partnership between Utah Tech and Lin’s.
“My understanding is they plan to continue this partnership forward as long as it is approved by their corporation to use the money within our community,” Bottoms said.
Recently renovated in 2024, the Blazer Food Pantry is now equipped with fridges that allows storage of perishable items and a larger containment space. These factors have made it more possible for students to receive a variety of food and has increased the awareness and accessibility of the Blazer Food Pantry.
This initiative relieves students of not being able to afford food or other essentials like hygiene products, allowing them to focus on their academic careers.
Since its renovation, the Blazer Food Pantry has also adopted an online ordering system, which allows students to order pantry items in the comfort of their own space. Employees then package ordered items into baskets, which allows for a short and seamless process when students arrive to pick up their orders.
Grace Haglund, a freshman general studies major from American Fork, who is also a student employee for the Blazer Food Pantry, said: “People would be surprised how many people use that resource and how many people take advantage of the food pantry. Sometimes, I think it is easy to think you are the only one or you are all alone, but so many people use it.”
The usage of the Blazer Food Pantry has increased since it’s renovation, which allowed for the food pantry to store and distribute perishable items along with non-perishables.
“January 2023 was when we first had an automated system to start reporting data. Last year, we had a 52% increase in the use of the pantry,” Bottoms said.
When referring to the recent donation from Lin’s, Threet said the donation is “imperative to our success,” as the Blazer Food Pantry does not receive legislative funds specifically designated for such purposes.
Threet said community funding is important and mentions ways in which the community has helped fund the Blazer Food Pantry, such as donations from faculty, staff and The Fire and Ice Gala.
Thus, the Blazer Food Pantry is an example of how students, faculty and the community have come together to bolster the success of students at Utah Tech.
To order items from the Blazer Food Pantry and learn more about other food resources on campus, please visit this link.
