In the midst of chaos and disappointment, some Loyola students found a way to give back to the community even in their last hours on campus.

In a move that Dale O’Neill, director of student life and ministry said “epitomizes the spirit of Loyola’s Jesuit mission,” students flooded Iggy’s Cupboard, Loyola’s community pantry, with donations of nonperishable food items as it became clear that campus dining options would quickly become limited.

English senior Sophie Trist was packing up her dorm room Thursday afternoon when her best friend, music senior Alex Lucas had an idea.

“Sophie’s my best friend and if she knows anything about me, it’s that I hate to waste,” Lucas said. “I kept saying ‘come on let’s spend our Wolfbucks to get donations for Iggy’s Cupboard.”

Trist was convinced, though not initially excited to wait in the growing line for The Market.

With the majority of campus dining options closing and students being asked to vacate the dorms, students quickly realized their remaining Wolfbucks, Loyola’s debit dining dollars, would be rendered useless. Following President Tania Tetlow’s March 11 announcement, an hour-long line formed outside The Market, as students tried to spend half a semester’s worth of money in one trip.

Trist said even though she and Lucas went the following day, the scene outside The Market was still chaotic.

“I thought ‘oh my Lord, this is going to be really kind of annoying,’ but it was so worth it…because when we went there, I had almost 400 Wolfbucks.”

Lucas said he and Trist made their way through the store, buying what they thought might equal $500 worth of food. But when they reached the register, they weren’t even close.

“I was like ‘ okay we’re going to need a lot more stuff,’” Lucas said. “So I actually went and got a bunch of unopened things from the back in big cases and just started stacking.”

Some of Lucas’ friends behind him in line caught on to his mission and decided to join.

“When it was all said and done, there were six of us and we bought over $1000,” Lucas said.

O’Neill said as soon as the decision was made to move online, Heather Malveaux, university minister for social justice, who oversees Iggy’s Cupboard placed a large order to restock the pantry.

“In the meantime…we were bombarded with students coming in and out of the cupboard to donate food,” O’Neill said.

For Trist, a Covington native, donating to the cupboard was a way to show support to the students who cannot easily return home.

“I want to use my privilege of having Wolfbucks and being able to go home and translate that into helping others,” Trist said. “I feel like during situations like this, the first instinct is to panic and be kinda selfish.”

“I don’t think we have to be like that. I think we can still reach out,” Trist said.

Lucas, who said he was also reeling from a semester cut short, echoed her sentiments.

“It’s basic human compassion, plain and simple,” he said. “It’s being there for people who don’t have the resources or the support that the rest of us are lucky to have.”

Both said that for something that only took them about two hours, the trip to The Market and Iggy’s Cupboard was worth it.

“I hope that it will serve them and not only be a source of food for them…but also a sort of message from the students that left that they care about you…we’re still thinking about you,” Trist said.