Rally Cat’s Cupboard, the student-run food pantry located in the Davis Center, is the selected non-profit for the Hannaford Helps Reusable Bag Program for the month of January. The Cupboard will receive $1 from every $2.50 reusable Fight Hunger Bag sold during January at the Hannaford location at 217 Dorset Street in South Burlington.

After re-locating Rally Cat’s this past summer from the Living & Learning Commons to the Davis Center's Room 103, the Cupboard has seen an 86% increase in market attendance. They believe that the central location in the Davis Center, along with the rising cost of food, rent, and other living expenses, accounts for this increase.

Run by Malarie McGalliard and Maeve Forbes, Master’s students in the Food Systems Graduate Program at UVM, the Cupboard is open on Tuesdays and Thursdays from 2:00–4:00pm and serves an average of 150 students during each distribution. In November alone, there were 1377 visits to the Cupboard by members of the UVM community.

Beginning in Fall 2022, the Cupboard has partnered with the Food Recovery Network for free food pop-ups on Friday afternoons. The Food Recovery Network, a nationwide organization with over 200 student-run chapters, has hosted four pop-ups offering extra food recovered from across campus, such as packaged sandwiches, yogurt, and other prepared foods in an effort to address both food insecurity and food waste on campus.

This January's fundraiser is not the first collaboration between UVM and Hannaford. Since 2019, Hannaford has donated on a weekly basis to the Cupboard. “Our partnership with Hannaford is one of our most beloved by students," shares Forbes. "It's helped bring a reliable source of fresh produce, bakery, and deli products on a weekly basis for almost the entire time we’ve been open since 2019. The store's manager, Michael, has been an amazing support system for us and always tries to meet any need for food we bring to him!”

To support Rally Cat’s Cupboard, please purchase a Fight Hunger Bag during the month of January. You can also visit the Cupboard’s food registry or make a monetary donation here.