The Open Seat will be located inside the Student Activities Center on East Campus Mall, and is believed to be the first pantry on the grounds of UW-Madison.

That difference is significant, Evans said.

There are several food pantries in Madison, including some in the Downtown area closer to campus than the one Evans used to visit. But hungry students, who must juggle their classes and often multiple jobs, might not have enough time to visit them, she said.

Being homeless and hungry meant that, on top of her coursework, Evans’ mind was occupied by more basic needs her classmates didn’t have to think about — like what she was going to eat that day or where she would sleep.

Having the pantry on campus, she said, will give students “the opportunity to live the most standard life, like the rest of their peers do.”

Evans is also working on other projects to support Badgers who are living in poverty, such as a plan to open an emergency shelter for homeless students in university housing.

Plenty of people understand how poverty affects children, she said, but those problems don’t end when someone turns 18, or enrolls in a university such as UW-Madison.

“You don’t automatically become middle class when you start college,” she said.

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