Thrive Food Pantry provides free, healthy food for students at KU Medical Center

From the outside, students at the University of Kansas Medical Center appear driven, confident and dedicated to their pursuit of academic excellence. What most people don’t see is that many of these students are struggling to afford food.

KU Medical Center’s Office of Student Life launched the Thrive Food Pantry in 2020 based on responses to a student survey. Of the students who responded to the survey, 55% reported that juggling the cost of food and school caused them to skip the purchase of a required textbook. And 53% reported missing a class because of hunger. The results of this survey at KU Medical Center were consistent with other studies showing that university students struggle to purchase healthy, affordable food, particularly those in graduate programs that leave little or no time for a part-time job. Most students at KU Medical Center, which comprises the schools of Health Professions, Nursing and Medicine, are enrolled in such time-consuming graduate programs.

“Food insecurity is not a thing you can predict. … At any time there could be job loss in the household,” said Ryan Gove, director of the KU Medical Center Office of Student Life. “And we are there every week, every month and every semester to help.”

Gove said his office hosts food drives and sometimes receive food from Harvesters, a regional food bank, as well. “We also get lots of produce from the gardens around campus — lettuces, onions, radishes, okra, tomatoes, cucumbers — all vegetables that students help cultivate.”

Gove said the Thrive Food Pantry is unique because faculty and staff from KU Medical Center are the ones who support it, almost exclusively. “Most other pantries have to seek grants or other support. Our community has recognized the need and stepped up.”

One of those faculty members is Pamela Shaw, M.D., professor of pediatrics at KU School of Medicine, who was the associate vice chancellor for faculty and student affairs when Thrive opened. “It was surprising to me to learn there was so much food insecurity on campus at the time,” she said. “So, the pantry really met a need that we weren’t aware of, and now it’s really great to see how many students it’s serving.”

Last year, the pantry distributed more than 16,500 food and hygiene items to 402 individual students who visited the pantry a total of 2,721 times. Of those student users, 44% are feeding themselves with food from the pantry, while 37% are feeding themselves and one other person and 19% are feeding three or more people. Data show that in January and February of 2025, Thrive served more than 300 people, and most of those continued to return through the school year.

As a pediatrician, Shaw noted that we think about the fact that good nutrition is important for children, but it’s important for adults as well. “You cannot function, especially when you are trying to help other people, if you are hungry or concerned where your next meal is coming from,” she said.

Gove said some students come every week for staples, while others stop by for ingredients to supplement their kitchen with just a couple of items. “We introduce the pantry to every student during orientation, and we send emails every day we are open to remind them we are open,” he said.

The Thrive Food Pantry is located in a classroom building, Orr Major, in the central part of KU Medical Center’s Kansas City campus. Providing canned food and fresh vegetables harvested from gardens on campus as well as hygiene and baby items for new parents, the pantry is open every Thursday from 1 p.m. to 5 p.m. and also by appointment.

One doctoral student who visits the pantry nearly every week said she credits the pantry for reducing the stress of life as a student. “Since we aren’t working, the free food helps us save money,” said Jane, who is getting a doctoral degree at KU School of Health Professions. “And we have no time to cook, so the canned food helps me cook dinner in the blink of an eye.” She added that having access to black beans, fresh vegetables, grains and spices also means she has a better-quality diet than she might have without the pantry.

Colette Worcester, president of the KU Medical Center Student Governing Council and a student in the M.D.-Ph.D. Physician Scientist Training Program at KU School of Medicine, said the pantry provides a critical service for students during one of the most intense chapters of their lives. “Having the pantry on campus means that faculty, staff and other donors acknowledge students' needs and recognize the importance of supporting us outside the classroom.”

One professor who is quite familiar with the needs of students is Michael Waxman, M.D., a graduate of KU School of Medicine, where he is now a professor of family medicine and community health. Waxman’s own father, David Waxman, M.D., served as dean of students and became executive vice chancellor at KU Medical Center. The younger Waxman was one of the earliest supporters of Thrive. “My interest in helping feed students in our university goes back forever,” he said. “Ensuring healthy students … there is no better cause that I can think of.”