Student Government Association allocates $9,000 to support Roadrunner Pantry
A sign in front of the Roadrunner Pantry describes how students can utilize the food pantry. The Student Government Association’s $9,000 allocation will allow them to buy items to donate to the pantry in the coming months.
September 18, 2020
In their latest general assembly, The Student Government Association (SGA) allocated $9,000 of their nearly $50,000 annual budget to supporting the Roadrunner Pantry. The funds will be used to purchase and donate items to the food pantry throughout the semester.
The $9,000 allocation represents 19% of SGA’s annual budget of $47,174.10, which is funded by a portion of the Student Services Fee. The Roadrunner Pantry is a food pantry on UTSA’s Main Campus that offers food, hygiene products and other essentials to students who need them and is located in the Student Union next to the UPS Store at SU 1.04.06. There is also a food pantry at the Downtown Campus in the Whataburger Resource Room, but it is currently closed.
In a tweet, SGA President Taylor Edwards said the $9,000 allocation could “potentially sustain the pantry for up to three months.” Edwards said he wants SGA to focus entirely on supporting students this semester.
“Nothing will be [spent] in SGA unless it’s going to directly benefit students,” Edwards said.
Edwards said SGA is also considering allocating funds to purchase technology students could use for online classes.
“We were thinking webcams, especially with proctored exams on the rise and professors requiring students to have their cameras on,” Edwards said. “We won’t be able to do a lot, but just buying 300 webcams, for example, obviously would be helping students … directly.”
Edwards sees this moment as a time when SGA needs to fill a much larger role than it has before in the UTSA community.
“I think that now SGA’s role is probably the most important it’s ever been,” Edwards said. “Obviously, with the virus came more responsibility on SGA, and it was really our time to step up to the plate.”
The Roadrunner Pantry is currently open on weekdays from 12:00 p.m. to 4:00 p.m., and students can take up to seven bags of food per visit with proof of a student ID. You can call the Roadrunner Pantry at 210-458-3287 to learn more. If you would like to donate to the Roadrunner Pantry, there is a Donation Station in the Student Union across from the Rowdy Bookstore behind the staircase.
