Welcome to the GHRC!
Our goal is to provide food, clothing, school supplies, toiletries and other items at no cost to any member of the UMW community. Our hope is to eliminate food insecurity.
The Gwen Hale Resource Center is supported by a board of leaders from the Simpson Library and Center for Community Engagement in partnership with the Fredericksburg Regional Food Bank. It is a free pantry on campus offering free food, clothing, dorm supplies, toiletries, and anything offered from our community that can help support our UMW community. For more information about the GHRC’s resources, you can find it on the Simpson Library’s webpage dedicated to the center at https://library.umw.edu/library/ghrc.
How do I get there?
The GHRC is located on the 5th floor of Lee Hall. Take the elevator closest to Monroe Hall to floor “A” (for attic). Follow the signs!
The GHRC is open any time Lee Hall is open during the school year. For access to the center outside of these hours, contact resource@umw.edu or use the door code (967709). Hours may change in the summer.
Satellite Location
Simpson Library has partnered with the Gwen Hale Resource Center to have a secondary food pantry location, called Food for Thought, in the library. It’s on the first floor, behind the center stairwell. Stop by anytime the library is open to get free shelf-stable food, beverages, and supplies.
Where does the food come from?
The GHRC is stocked by generous donations from many members of our community.
What is the need at UMW?
According to surveys administered in 2021 and 2019, between 20-25% of UMW students experience some level of food insecurity. Eleven percent of UMW students surveyed reported high levels of food insecurity, reporting frequent difficulty getting enough to eat, or needing to skip meals for financial reasons.
Food and other basic needs insecurity has significant impacts on our lives. It increases stress, difficulty concentrating, decreases our likelihood of completing courses and degrees. The GHRC intends to ease this burden as much as possible.
Want to Volunteer?
Come volunteer with us! To volunteer, go to our MyUMW page to sign up, use this google form, or contact us by emailing resource@umw.edu.
The Gwen Hale Resource Center has an open volunteer concept where you can drop by at any point that Lee hall is open, mark your hours in our volunteer log, and find needed tasks to do in the Center including stocking donations on the shelves, sorting clothes, sweeping, etc. To volunteer, please watch the Food Bank’s Food Safety Course and complete the quiz. There are also weekly events hosted by volunteer leaders for the COAR GHRC volunteer program found with the above link to the GHRC MyUMW page.
Want to Donate?
If you would like to donate, please email us, or you can donate to us financially through the UMW Foundation (go to alumni.umw.edu/resourcecenter)! Your donations are always welcome, either at Lee Hall or Simpson Library, as we try to fulfill our goal to ensure all of the UMW community has their basic needs met and enough to eat.
Also, here is a list of some needed items to help guide your donations, but also feel free to donate what you think someone could need. You can bring these items directly to the Center or leave them in the donation box found outside of the Center for Community Engagement (CRUC Suite 320), on the second floor of the HCC, or at the library. Please contact us if an item is perishable and needs to be picked up immediately (or place it directly in the GHRC fridge). Even better, you can have them delivered directly to us if you buy off of our wish list!