At 150 Perry Lane in Edinboro are the Lawrence Towers.

The buildings on the campus of PennWest Edinboro used to have dorms. Now, they’re closed.

“We’re still reviewing what the best use of that space will be for the future of the institution,” said Amanda Brown Sissem, campus administrator at PennWest Edinboro, “but for now, it allows us to divert resources that we’re spending in that building to other areas of campus.”

All that’s left inside is the Edinboro Food Pantry. They’ve had space in one of the towers for more than a decade, but they have to move by June 30th. 

Sissem said the pantry knew this day was coming.

“We understand that now this all becomes very real for a non-profit organization,” she said.

She said that’s why the university has been working with the pantry and other groups to find a new location. 

“Obviously, our first step was also to look at the rest of our campus and see if there were any other suitable locations here,” she said.

That search came up empty. She said there is not sufficient space available.

“Not only are there space needs, but there [are] also needs around how to access the space for foot traffic and vehicle traffic,” she said.

She hopes this will start a conversation in the community about how to help the pantry.

“We’re not only identifying what other services and resources we might be able to bring to the table, but we need others in the community doing [that], as well,” she said.

She hopes that through these conversations, the pantry can find a sustainable way to keep running.

“Not just looking at the immediate need but ‘how can we use this process to help strengthen not only the pantry but their mission, which is to serve this community?’,” she said. 

The pantry declined our request for an interview. Their director, Mary Weber, said she's not ready to talk about what's happening.

A volunteer at Thursday's food distribution said the university has been very helpful during this process.