Maureen McCoy
2024 Charter Professor
Teaching Professor
College of Health Solutions
Maureen McCoy is a teaching professor in the College of Health Solutions. She has been recognized as a Charter Professor for her efforts as faculty advisor and student mentor for the student-led nonprofit Pitchfork Pantry. The pantry was developed to address student food insecurity and is designed to provide immediate access to free, nutritious food, essential clothing and hygiene products for ASU students.
McCoy has mentored the pantry’s student leaders, most coming from the health fields, but also from civil and mechanical engineering, medical microbiology, business management, chemistry and other majors. Overall, nearly 90 student leaders and volunteers work with the pantry each month. In addition to pantry sites on the four campuses, McCoy initiated food delivery services, and last semester, there were a series of monthly pop-up events, distributing food to more than 1,000 students with support from volunteers from Mirabella and student groups.
To ensure that the students receive nutrient-dense foods, McCoy sources locally grown produce, rescue food that would otherwise go to waste from St. Vincent de Paul and Starbucks, and work with community partners across the state and campuses to develop different food distribution models on all four campuses.
With the funds that come with the Charter Professor appointment, McCoy says she’ll expand what the pantry can offer in nutritional education, collaborating with faculty, students, and staff in the College of Health Solutions. This includes the creation of videos covering cooking demonstrations and preparation, a Pitchfork Pantry Canvas shell, and providing food and cooking resources to both on-campus and online students.
