On Monday afternoons, Ingrid Nilsson ’26 crosses campus to volunteer at the Arm in Arm food pantry. She walks down to the small basement of the Nassau Presbyterian Church just off Princeton’s campus where the pantry is located. There, Nilsson sorts through the donations, packs bags for a steady stream of clients, and chats with the other volunteers and staff.
For the people who rely on Arm in Arm’s services, it is a lifeline. For those who volunteer there, it is a straightforward and necessary way to give back to the community. “You can directly see what you’re doing, [and that] is really nice,” Nilsson said.
With several locations across New Jersey, Arm in Arm is built on the support of volunteer work and community investment. Formerly known as The Crisis Ministry, the nonprofit was started by the leaders of the Nassau Presbyterian Church and Trinity Church in the 1980s to provide food and financial assistance to families in the Mercer County area. As they expanded over the last few decades, the work has allowed the 20 staff members and hundreds of volunteers to continue their mission and help over 4,000 in-need families.
One of two Student Volunteer Coordinators along with Kiran Biddinger ’25, Nilsson is responsible for organizing volunteer shifts while regularly helping out at the pantry. This student position was started in 2021 by Olivia Cao ’24.
“Arm-in-Arm allows me to interact with and give back to the greater Princeton community we’re part of,” Cao said. ”We don’t always realize it, but we are part of it.”
Arm in Arm’s clients come mainly from the town of Princeton. While Nassau Street is filled with luxury brand stores, almost six percent of residents live in poverty. Arm in Arm serves about 150 clients a week, from all different communities and backgrounds.
“We have the Indian community, Hispanic community, Black community, even Russian,” Leticia Hernandez, services coordinator at Arm in Arm, explained. “People … can see the diversity just by walking in through the doors.”
This diversity is replicated in Arm in Arm’s volunteers, many of whom speak different languages, which is a huge help in interacting with clients.
Hernandez has been working with the pantry since January of 2003 and was drawn to the idea of helping the community who needed it the most. Sitting at her desk, cluttered with papers and photographs, Hernandez smiles and chats easily with the employees and volunteers that come in and out of her small office. For her, the interpersonal work she’s able to engage in enriches the job even more.
“I always knew that I loved working with people,” Hernandez said. “I applied for the job knowing that I would be interacting with people and trying to make a difference the best way that I can.”
In winter, the colder temperatures and holiday season make volunteers and community partners essential for the pantry to run smoothly and successfully. Thanksgiving is one of the busiest times of the year. Donations come flooding in as boxes and bags and giant carts that Bernard Sweat, Princeton Arm and Arm’s other staff member, empties and then wheels upstairs to collect yet more donations.
Food supplies are bursting from the shelves, which Hernandez says never happens — except at this time of the year. Bags from churches, organizations, and individuals are all lined up to be weighed and then sorted into the shelves. It’s non-stop action as some volunteers weigh the bags, some pack the shelves, some pack the bags, and others talk to the clients.
Right outside the pantry, a steady stream of people line up to collect their food supplies. They come in all shapes and colors, individuals and families, young and old. A volunteer yells out, “One bag!” Those in the pantry spring into action, filling a bag with the requisite items: one can of this, one box of that, and so on.
A middle-aged Black lady with a grey zip-up jacket, bandana, and tiny crossbody bag leans over the doorway on her way out. “Can I get white bread?” she asked.
That isn’t available, so the volunteer on duty gives her the closest option: whole grain bread. The volunteer asks if she wants bagels instead, and the lady agrees. When she gets the bagels, however, she decides to go back to the whole grain bread. There’s a playful ease in the interaction, and the lady, upon receiving the bread, says “I love you!”
The volunteer laughs, “I love you too!”
“Happy thanksgiving!” she says.
The volunteer looks at her retreating figure with a smile, and turns back to packing the pantry.
***
For students, a key highlight of volunteering at Arm in Arm is the opportunity to engage with the community outside of the University’s gates. Despite Princeton’s informal motto, “In the Nation’s Service and the Service of Humanity,” perennially busy Princeton students often find it difficult to work volunteering into their schedules.
“I think a lot of students here think that volunteering is this big time commitment, but it’s so much easier and rewarding than people realize,” Nilsson says. Volunteers only have to walk up campus to the Presbyterian Church for their hour-long shifts.
Biddinger highlighted that many people are shocked that there’s a food pantry when he tells them about it. “It is a little bit of a misconception, but it’s also very cool. You get to engage in your own community.”
Cao, who first worked with the Trenton Arm in Arm branch during a fall break trip with the PACE center, later began volunteering at Princeton Arm in Arm. In communication with the organizations, she created a volunteer signup system as part of Output, the social entrepreneurship section of E-Club. Over time, the network of student volunteers grew, involving Nilsson and Biddinger, who then took over after Cao’s graduation.
This focus on serving the community around them drives the students who volunteer at Arm in Arm. To Biddinger, who grew up volunteering at food shelters and seeing the impacts of food insecurity, having a pantry so nearby was a tremendous opportunity. “I think both on a greater spiritual level, but also on a day to day level, it’s very, very rewarding, I’m very, very lucky to do it,” says Biddinger.
At the end of the day, Cao says that it’s about giving a spotlight to the community. “We need to focus on the fact that it’s part of the duty of Princeton students, to give back to the community we’re a part of. We’re doing this because it’s the right thing to do.”
Sedise Tiruneh is a staff Features writer and staff writer for the Prospect.
Faith Ho is a staff Features writer.
Please send any corrections to corrections@dailyprincetonian.com.
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