The last thing you ate might have been a burger from the Memorial Union or pizza delivered from one of the local shops. Perhaps you opted for a coffee from the Hub instead. Either way, you had a full stomach. Could you imagine not having that choice?

For some of your fellow students, going hungry is an everyday occurrence.

According to the U.S. Department of Agriculture, 49.1 million people lived in food insecure households in 2013. About 11.9 percent of those people live in Iowa.

Roughly, 1 in 9 Iowa households experience food insecurity.

According to Feeding America’s 2014 report, about 10 percent of their 46.5 million clients are college students who have used their service. About 30 percent of these students reported they’ve had to choose between paying for college and paying for food.

There is no location immune to the problem, including Ames. Denise Griffin and Frances Anderson are members of the Ames community who struggle with food insecurity.

However, there are solutions available to Griffin and Anderson.

One student organization at Iowa State is attempting to make a difference on campus for students who may be going hungry.

Students Helping Our Peers, or the SHOP, is a student-run food pantry location on Iowa State’s campus.

The SHOP, located at 2616 Food Sciences Building, is open every Tuesday and Thursday from 3 to 6 p.m. and every Wednesday from 11 a.m. to 6 p.m. The mission, according to its website, is to “increase food security on campus” by offering non-perishable food items to ISU students and faculty in need.

Jessica Schaumburg, president of the SHOP, said food insecurity among college students may be a greater issue than one believes.

“I definitely think, especially for upperclassmen students living in apartments or people who don’t have meal plans, it’s more widespread than we might think it is or pretend like it is,” Schaumburg said.

Kirsten Mancosky, secretary of the SHOP, said it is also the organization’s goal to overrule “the food pantry stigma.”

“We find that people support the idea of it, but not a lot of support to actually come into the SHOP,” Mancosky said. “We had the food and wanted to provide it for people, but I think people thought that ‘I don’t want to be seen as someone in need.’”

Schaumburg said the food pantry is mostly directed toward students and faculty but is completely anonymous, which she believes is very important.

“We don’t do a needs-based assessment like some other food pantries do,” Schaumburg said. “Anyone can come to it, take as much as they like during our hours and they can come as often as they’d like.”

Food items offered include breakfast items, baking goods and a variety of canned goods.

The organization also offers a variety of free personal hygiene items, which includes toothbrushes, soap, deodorant and shampoo.

The program serves about 20 to 30 students every week and between 50 and 100 students every month. The SHOP is run by ISU students and Schaumburg said the organization has about 50 regular volunteers.

“We encourage our volunteers to volunteer three times a semester,” Schaumburg said.

Schaumburg said the organization tries to keep at least two volunteers in the SHOP at all times.

The organization initially got its start from a donation from ISU Dining. Now, it receives most of its stock as donations from other student organizations.

“In general, we have a lot of on-campus student groups approach us,” Schaumburg said. “We stay pretty well stocked that way.”

Schaumburg said student organizations typically have a food drive or donate money to the SHOP. What they don’t get in donations, they make up for by using club money to buy from grocery stores.

The SHOP was created during the 2010-11 academic year by students of the food science and human nutrition transfer learning community. Mancosky said about six students that semester decided they wanted to start a food pantry. After initial trouble finding a space, the SHOP now resides in an old storage closet that has been painted yellow.

Mancosky said the project got its funding from ISU Dining from leftover money from dining dollars.

“It started with students’ money, so it’s for any student,” Mancosky said.

Schaumburg said the people who use the food pantry come in seem to be very grateful. Along with the SHOP, there are other soup kitchens and food pantries in Ames and Story County.

Food At First is a program based in Ames at the First Christian Church that offers free meals and a no questions asked food pantry.

The program serves one meal every day of the week. The meals are served between 5:45 p.m. and 6:15 p.m. Friday through Sunday nights and on Saturdays between 11:30 a.m. and 12:15 p.m.

It also has a fully stocked food pantry called “Free Market,” which is distributed at 116 Washington Ave. and Trinity Reformed Church on Ontario Street. Distributions happen at both locations from 10 to 10:30 a.m., and at the Washington Avenue location every Monday and Thursday from 5 to 5:30 p.m.

Food At First receives donated food from grocery stores in Ames. The food it receives is what companies are unable to sell and would otherwise throw out.

In the month of March alone, Food At First received 18,519 pounds of food from Walmart. The organization also received 5,086 pounds from Sam’s Club and 4,437 from Aldi.

Tom Fenton, volunteer and retired professor of agronomy at Iowa State, said the program also receives donations from Hy-Vee and ISU dining.

From these donations, the organization was able to make 1,990 meals in March for those in need.

Fenton said on average, the program serves 80 people per meal.

Griffin and Anderson are regular visitors at Food At First, and say they enjoy visiting with friends while enjoying a meal.

Anderson said she comes to Food At First because she likes to eat and she like to see her friends.

“You never leave here hungry,” Anderson said. “If you live in Ames, there’s no reason for you to be hungry.”

Anderson said with the daily free meals and the market being open three days a week, she’s not going to starve. She used to volunteer for the program’s Christmas dinners before visiting for the daily meals.

Abby Lee, 22, is a volunteer at Food At First who enjoys the opportunity to talk to people.

“I think Food At First is a great opportunity for people to help and serve the community,” Lee said.

Lee said by volunteering, people would be able to better understand someone who doesn’t have money or food.

Mancosky said she has enjoyed working with the SHOP and watching how it impacts campus.

“Coming in through the first executive board, it was very brand new but there was great potential for it to grow,” Mancosky said. “It’s definitely become more prevalent on campus. It’s been cool to watch it grow and see new people come in.”

Schaumburg said she’s enjoyed watching the organization expand beyond food science and human nutrition students.

“Now we have a student from every college on our executive board,” Schaumburg said. “It’s getting out there and more people want to get involved, which I think is important.”

For more information and a full list of available items offered by the SHOP or if you wish to volunteer, visit theshop.stuorg.iastate.edu.

For more information on Food At First or if you wish to get involved, visit foodatfirst.wordpress.com.