Waging War on Hunger

Roshelle Pate, BSC ’93, always knew her love for Ohio University would bring her back to the bricks. She never imagined it would be to help avert hunger during a global pandemic.

Known as the “Food Soldier,” Pate has spent the past five years waging war on hunger—a battle that led her back to Athens in the closing months of 2020 to deliver thousands of food boxes to those in need.

“I’ve always had a special place in my heart for Athens, so I’m happy to be back there in this capacity to give the food boxes and help,” says Pate, who graduated with a bachelor’s degree in communication systems management.

That help has gone a long way as the COVID-19 pandemic and accompanying economic crisis have left hunger-relief organizations nationwide grappling with a surge in demand, declines in donations and fewer volunteers.

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Athens County was the most food insecure county in Ohio even before COVID-19 with approximately 20 percent of its population experiencing hunger or food scarcity, according to Feeding America. At a typical food distribution in her home base of Columbus, Pate usually serves between 100 and 500 people, but she distributed as many as 5,000 boxes in a day at the nine distributions she hosted in Athens.

“The thing that amazed me is that people were coming from as far as Parkersburg, [West Virginia],” says Pate. “We’ve truly been able to make an impact.”

That type of impact personifies Pate’s mission. She founded the Food Soldier Hunger Coalition in 2015 after connecting with a group of homeless Vietnam War veterans. An Air Force veteran herself, Pate felt compelled to help her military brethren find much-needed sustenance. At the same time, her mom was recovering from surgery for a near-fatal pancreatic tumor that left her with an onset of diabetes, and Pate was seeking affordable fresh food options in light of her mom’s fixed income.

“Going to Whole Foods to get organic stuff got expensive, so I started going to free fresh food distributions,” recalls Pate. “At one event, I went near the end and saw them throwing a lot of leftover food away; I couldn’t understand that knowing the hunger issues we have here in Columbus. It became an ongoing thing where I started to notice pounds and pounds of food going into the dumpster at every giveaway.”

Pate began not only sharing provisions with her mom, but also arranging to take leftover food from local pantries to the group of veterans. Word spread quickly, and Pate created a Facebook page to let others know where and when she would be distributing food.

“Initially, I just wanted to do this so that perfectly good food wouldn’t go to waste,” says Pate. “I never had any intentions of starting a movement.”

That Facebook group has grown to nearly 13,700 members, and during COVID-19, the Food Soldier Hunger Coalition ramped up from two to four weekly distributions between Columbus and Athens. Pate partnered with the USDA’s Farmers to Families program, a COVID-19 assistance initiative that has redirected $4.5 billion worth of food from commercial farmers and ranchers straight to families who need it, providing them with free boxes full of fresh fruits and vegetables, meat and dairy products.

It was those boxes that brought Pate and her coalition to Athens—to the benefit of local food pantries, residents and Ohio University students, several of whom not only received food but also volunteered to help with the distributions.

“We typically serve 400 students per semester at the Cats’ Cupboard ,” Kathy Fahl, interim associate dean of students, says of the campus food pantry, which also received food from the distributions. “We’ve seen a big increase in international students during the pandemic. We know that when students don’t have enough to eat, it impacts their ability to stay in school and be productive. Being able to redistribute the [USDA boxes] to our students has lessened that burden.”

For Pate, it all stems from her fervent belief that all humans have a right to fresh, healthy food, and that no food should go to waste.

“Ever since I met those Vietnam vets, it feels like I’ve been strapping on my combat boots and putting on armor to fight the battle against hunger,” says Pate. “Hunger is not an issue of charity; it is an issue of justice.”

Featured image: After serving her country, Roshelle Pate, BSC ’93, is now serving Ohio communities, founding the Food Soldier Hunger Coalition that provides fresh food at weekly distributions. Photo by Rich-Joseph Facun, BSVC ’01. Disclaimer: It is not the intent of Ohio University to imply an endorsement by any service branch of the U.S. Armed Forces.