On Monday, January 23rd, 2023, Morning Fresh Dairy Farm, Dairy MAX, and CSU community members came together at CSU’s “Rams Against Hunger” Food Pantry Ribbon Cutting event. This Ribbon Cutting celebrated the donation of 200 gallons of local milk from Morning Fresh Dairy and a commercial-grade refrigerator from Dairy MAX.
In a media alert regarding the event, Amber Graves, Morning Fresh Dairy’s Continuous Improvement Director and Mandy Johnson, Dairy MAX Public Relations Manager, write:
“A CSU campus survey taken during the 2019-2020 academic year revealed 29% of students faced some level of food insecurity; therefore, the RAH was created in an effort to mitigate this issue and support students, faculty and staff. The RAH Food Pantry offers a true grocery-shopping experience for students and faculty with a well-equipped walk-in freezer, spacious aisles, a wide selection of frozen foods, fresh produce, milk, eggs and dry and shelf-stable products. Partnering with Dairy MAX and local Colorado dairy farm, Morning Fresh Dairy, allows the RAH food pantry to continue providing nutritious dairy products to their consumers.”
To prompt the ribbon-cutting, Michael Buttram, Basic Needs Program Manager of CSU, explained that with the help of partnerships on and off campus, they’re able to provide a multitude of resources at the university, including the Food Pantry, meal swipe programs, SNAP benefits, and pocket pantries around campus. He explains the operation as an “all-hands-on-deck type of thing.” Buttram explains, “Rams against Hunger offers a menu of services that are geared towards combatting food insecurity on our campus. They’re looking to serve the student need where the need exists, in a way that affirms a student’s dignity.”
Amber Graves of Morning Fresh Dairy mentioned that “We’re just always happy to be part of the community and helping out wherever we can, and if that’s just giving milk, we’ll do it.”
The collective partnerships celebrated the donations by stocking the pantry, conducting interviews, and participating in the formal ribbon cutting. Staff and students were welcome to participate in a myth-busting prize wheel and gain prizes from Morning Fresh Dairy and Dairy MAX.
