Thanks to community support and new partnerships over the past year, the Center for Basic Needs has expanded programs and increased access to a variety of supportive resources.
For the UT to West TN program, which creates accessible and safe transportation for students traveling to Middle and West Tennessee during academic breaks, UT Federal Credit Union donated snack bags for each student. Last fall, UT students filled four buses for the fall break, Thanksgiving, and winter break trips.
For the second year in a row, the Big Orange Pantry won the Schools of the SEC Food Fight, an annual competition where SEC schools compete to see who can out-give the rest in supporting their local, on-campus food pantries. The competition also included a collaboration with UT Athletics, partnering with the pantry during a three-game baseball series against Missouri in which the Knoxville community could donate physical and monetary gifts.
Through a gift from UT alumni Laura (’96) and JD (’99) Durbin, the Center for Basic Needs has also earmarked funds for the purchase of a box truck, a fleet vehicle that would allow the center to make additional trips to partner organization Second Harvest Food Bank which supplies many items for the Big Orange Pantry. During the 2025–26 academic year, the Big Orange Pantry had 55,653 total visits. This example, of Volunteers who saw a need and fulfilled that particular need, demonstrates the impact and legacy the UT community has on the Volunteer student experience.