RIT FoodShare

Who Can Visit?

RIT FoodShare is an on-campus resource for the RIT community. It's open to all currently enrolled students, faculty, and staff of the university. You don't need to sign up ahead of time. When you arrive, a FoodShare Assistant will greet you, share how things work, and answer any questions about your shopping experience. They can also give you a tour.

If you're not eligible for RIT FoodShare or need more help, the center encourages you to visit Foodlink for local food pantries, community meal programs, and food distribution sites in the area.

Items Needed for Registration

Bring your RIT ID. At checkout you'll swipe your ID or give your RIT username. None of your personal information is published or monitored. It's just an internal practice that helps the center track usage and spot trends.

How Often You Can Visit?

You can visit every day. The center invites you to take what you need each day and come back daily if you need to. You can take up to 5 items per day, and only one of each item. Daily limits may change depending on supply.

Good to Know

A few things are worth knowing before your first visit:

• You can pick up to 5 items per day, and the limit may be adjusted based on what's in stock.
• Supply depends on donations, so what's available changes from day to day. Some days the shelves are full, and other days they may be a little bare.
• If something isn't out in the Grocery Room, it's unavailable. The center doesn't keep extra items in storage.
• Some items may look like they've passed their best-buy date, but staff check food for safety and these are still safe to eat. One reviewer noted that food is occasionally expired, though most of the time it's good.
• Bring your own reusable bag if you can. You'll be given a bag if you need one, but reusing your own helps support sustainable practices.

Food & Essentials

RIT FoodShare offers a variety of boxed and canned goods you can choose from. The Grocery Room also has three refrigerators, two with vegetables and one with fruit, so you can pick up fresh produce. Reviewers mention a good selection of snacks, free food, and fresh produce, including organic harvest from the garden in the summer and fall and produce from the local Public Market. The center receives donations from local organizations, farmers, and even restaurants on a weekly basis.

In the main community space, a Keurig and a hot water kettle are available with a variety of coffee, hot chocolate, and tea. You're welcome to one K-cup, tea bag, or hot chocolate packet each visit.

How to Pick Up

RIT FoodShare works like a shop where you choose your own items. After a FoodShare Assistant greets you, you head into the Grocery Room and pick what you need, up to 5 items a day, with only one of each item. Please return anything you decide you don't need to where you found it. When you're done, stop by the front desk to check out. You'll swipe in with your RIT ID and read off or show your items so staff can track them for inventory. Please don't go behind the front desk during your visit.

Additional Support

Beyond food, RIT FoodShare offers immediate, confidential support for hygiene products on campus. Free hot drinks are available too, including coffee, hot chocolate, and tea.

Facilities

RIT FoodShare is the permanent home of Bern's Closet, a clothing bank that provides professional attire and other apparel at no cost. It's named in honor of the late Bernadette Lynch, a beloved RIT staff member who founded the university's I'm First program. Two clothing rooms are available, each with pants, jackets, shirts, shoes, belts, ties, winter coats, and more. The goal is to help students leave with a professional-looking outfit or seasonal clothing to wear for the Career Fair and beyond.

Ways to Give

RIT FoodShare is made possible by support from the RIT and greater Rochester communities. There are several ways to give:

• Donate food and supplies. The center accepts unopened food items in their original packaging and within their expiration date, non-perishable items, and cleaning and hygiene items. It can't accept open or prepared food, homemade food, or damaged items or compromised packaging. You can fill out the donation form, review the donation manual, or shop the Amazon Wishlist.
• The most needed items are cereal, pasta, pasta sauce, peanut butter, jelly, tuna fish, rice, vegan foods, and gluten-free foods.
• Bern's Closet welcomes business clothes such as slacks, button-ups, suit jackets and sets, and belts, plus casual dress items and winter wear like boots, jackets, and gloves. It can't take clothing with rips, tears, or stains, or casual wear like swimsuits, t-shirts, and undergarments.
• Give a monetary donation or sponsor a shelf.

For questions about giving, you can reach the center at brsrla@rit.edu.

How to Join the Team?

If you'd like to help out, RIT FoodShare welcomes volunteers. You can sign up through the volunteer form.