Volunteers help at LCCC as part of First Lady’s Hunger Initiative

Demand is increasing at LCCC’s FNBO Food Pantry — a roughly 40% increase in 2025 from the previous year, said Ashley Garhart, LCCC’s Student Engagement director.

“It’s cool to see the number of students using the service increase, but it can also be hard to keep up with demand,” Ashley said.

With food security a high priority, LCCC has been working harder than ever to meet student needs — a mission that aligned with Wyoming First Lady Jennie Gordon’s Hunger Initiative volunteer day in July, when volunteers gathered to expand the college’s campus garden.

“I think it’s the responsibility of all of us,” said Robert Trevaizo, a branch manager at UniWyo Credit Union in Cheyenne and one of the volunteers who participated in the event. “I always like that saying — a rising tide raises all ships. People don’t realize that the more you give back to your community, the more your community gives back to you in return. The more of us who get on that bandwagon, the better it’ll be for generations to come.”

Held July 11 outside the Agriculture Building on LCCC’s Cheyenne campus, the event brought together volunteers from the college and regional businesses. Their goal was to prepare the garden for greater use, help improve food access on campus and support a broader vision of community-led hunger relief.

The volunteer efforts at LCCC were part of Wyoming United: A Day to Celebrate Wyoming Working Together for a Better Wyoming, the inaugural service event launched by the Wyoming Hunger Initiative. The initiative, started by First Lady Jennie Gordon in 2019, encourages community involvement to support local anti-hunger efforts across the state.

When Ashley started at LCCC two years ago, the food pantry was lacking inventory to meet students' needs, she said. She got involved with the First Lady’s Hunger Initiative, which led to a relationship with Food Bank of Wyoming.

“Now every Monday during the school year, we go to Sprouts and do the grocery rescue, and we get really nice stuff,” Ashley said. “That’s been our saving grace in keeping the food pantry stocked.”

At LCCC, the Wyoming United volunteer efforts focused on improving the garden space that helps support the FNBO Food Pantry. Although most of the pantry’s food comes from donations and local suppliers, produce from the garden supplements inventory and sometimes goes to other food banks during the summer when student demand is lower.

Ashley said the campus garden plays a unique role in complementing those sources, especially as part of long-term planning to offer more nutrition education and self-sufficiency resources to students.

“One of the dreams we have with the garden is being able to offer cooking classes,” she said. “To show students how to use produce from the garden, or just to teach basic skills like how to make soup from scratch. That’s something we’d love to do down the road when we have the space and the setup.”

In the meantime, volunteer support is essential to both the garden and the pantry.

“Our food pantry is completely volunteer-run,” Ashley said. “Every single person that's volunteering there during a shift, they're a volunteer. The same with the clothing closet — they're all volunteers. So really, our volunteers are what make things like this possible and really help us serve our students.”

Volunteers weeded beds, shoveled compost and helped prepare new planting areas behind the Agriculture Building. Representatives from community businesses and organizations worked alongside LCCC staff. The Wyoming Hunger Initiative’s goal was to raise awareness and build long-term relationships between volunteers and hunger relief sites.

First Lady Jennie Gordon said the power of volunteering is equally as important as donating money because it brings personal time, skills and energy directly to causes, creating meaningful impact beyond financial support.

“Volunteering builds stronger communities, fosters connection and inspires others to get involved, making change more tangible and lasting,” she said. “Wyoming United is a day to celebrate Wyoming working together for a better Wyoming while raising awareness about those who face food insecurity across the state.”

The Wyoming United event was designed to raise awareness and help forge lasting relationships between volunteers and local hunger relief organizations. Building partnerships, according to the First Lady, is one of the most effective ways to meet community needs. The hardest part of volunteer recruitment is often just getting people to show up that first time, but she said once they do, those connections can grow.

Ashley said the FNBO Food Pantry’s increased demand isn’t surprising, especially as students juggle school, work and family responsibilities.

Maintaining a consistent and dignified experience for those students is part of Ashley’s priority. She’ll need volunteers to help build a more advanced program to support students’ food needs, but she knows they’ll get the job done. 

“A lot of students are living away from their parents for the first time,” she said. “They can make a sandwich, eggs, mac and cheese, and that’s about it for many. They don’t always know what to do with the food they get from the pantry, so part of the goal is helping educate them on how to cook.”