From a closet to a food market: IU Northwest food pantry grows to serve the campus and greater community

Chicha Sanders, IU Northwest’s resource navigator, stands inside the RedHawk Refuel food market on campus.

When Chicha Sanders started her job as a resource navigator in December 2025, she was shown a closet. That tiny space held something hugely important to Indiana University Northwest and the surrounding community — a food pantry.

Though it was small, it served a big need.

“The university was seeing students who were suffering from food insecurity, and we’re supposed to be a campus with resources,” Sanders said. “So, the pantry became one of those resources for the students, staff and faculty.”

Over the next few months, the RedHawk Refuel food market received a significant upgrade, thanks to a grant from the U.S. Department of Education’s Basic Needs for Postsecondary Students Program.

“The pantry moved into a space that’s like two rooms in one,” Sanders said. “Now it has two refrigerators, two freezers and one cooler. In addition to that, we have plenty of space to actually have stock within our pantry.”

If you visit the food market in the Moraine Student Center today, you’ll find a slew of food items. Thanks to the new equipment, the food market is often stocked with milk, produce, steak and even seafood. Sanders’ goal is to create a section where clients can build their own meals.

“Students will be able to come in and know they’ll have a selection of ready-to-go meals they can make with the ingredients in the pantry,” she said.

In addition to being run primarily for students, RedHawk Refuel is also run by students.

Krysten Abbasi has been working at the food pantry for two years now. The psychology major was already employed at a different campus job when she heard about the opening at the pantry, but she decided to go for it.

“It still shocks me how different it is now. When I first started, we had some shelves lining the walls and a single chair and desk for whoever was working that day,” she said. “Since it was tucked in a little corner of campus, nobody knew that a food pantry even existed, so I’d have maybe two guests a day.”

Abbasi has done pretty much every job at the food pantry, from stocking items to helping guests find what they need.

“I come across so many people while being here, and I’ve had so many meaningful interactions,” Abbasi said. “I’m hopefully helping someone be a little less stressed about putting food on their table.”

Though the food pantry has already grown so much since Abbasi started working there, Sanders has even more in store.

Mobile food carts now travel across campus carrying free snacks.

“The idea is that if we have these carts, students don’t have to walk around being hungry if they can’t afford something or don’t know where the pantry is,” Sanders said. “They can come grab snacks, and they can just take them for free.”

Sanders is also planning to reach out to community partners to make an even bigger impact.

“Our biggest supporter is the Northwest Indiana Food Bank,” she said. “But I am hoping to secure partnerships with other local grocery store.”

She also wants to connect with local farms to bring in more fresh produce. In that same vein, Sanders is excited about starting a small bed in the community garden on campus.

“I would love to have a huge garden that we can get fresh produce from. We planted some squash, carrots and lettuce, and we actually see this stuff growing. I’m getting excited,” she said.

There’s a lot for Sanders to be excited about, but nothing warms her heart more than seeing the food market’s impact on the campus and community.

“You don’t realize how many students on a university campus are going through things, and I want people to feel like they can come to the food pantry and make a meal and support their household,” she said. “I’m hoping to bridge the gap of food insecurity, and it warms my heart that people are acknowledging that we’re here to help the community.”

What was once a tiny closet few people knew about has become an essential resource, one that will only continue to grow and serve the campus and the greater community.

A special acknowledgment to the RedHawks CARE Grant Planning Team, whose efforts helped to secure the U.S. Department of Education’s grant. Thanks to their efforts, many services and resources beyond establishing the food pantry were created to assist all IU Northwest students.