Submitted by Trinity United Church
You may have noticed something new by the side door of Trinity United Church, at 33 Main Street East, Huntsville.
Standing on a short post is a small, attractive box with a glass door, and inside is an array of food and personal care items. These are available, free of charge, to people in need.
The Little Free Pantry program was launched in May 2016 by Jessica McCard in Fayetteville, Arizona, when she first created a Little Free Pantry pilot box. She hoped that her spin on the Little Free Library concept would pique local awareness of food insecurity, while creating a space for neighbours to help meet neighbourhood food needs.
A little over a month later, Crystal Rock Cathedral Women’s Ministries set up a Blessing Box in Ardmore, Oklahoma, and by August 2016 the movement had become global. The grassroots mini-pantry movement continues growing and moving, and now it has reached Huntsville!
On September 12, Trinity United Church, Huntsville, and the Huntsville Rotary Club combined to place a Little Free Pantry box, built by the Rotary Club, outside Trinity United Church. The box is accessible to anyone in need, no questions asked. It is an easy way for neighbours to help neighbours who need food, hygiene, or paper items.
As a start up, the Little Free Pantry was stocked with items donated or purchased by members of Trinity United Church and the Rotary Club, however anyone is welcome to donate as they can to the pantry.
Items may be put into the unlocked box if there is room, or they may be given to Trinity United Church so that they may be added to the box when needed. As the door to the church is currently kept locked, people wishing to donate items, or who may even wish to make a cash donation toward purchases, may call 705-789-5660 to speak with the Trinity office and arrange to leave the items with the church during office hours Monday through Thursday, 9:30-12:30.
Food items that are especially appreciated are canned protein, granola and protein bars, items suitable for children’s lunches, boxed pasta meals, pasta sauce, apples, juice boxes, and breakfast cereals. It is asked that the products please be nut-free, and nutritious items are preferred. Hygiene items such as toothpaste, soap, deodorant, feminine hygiene products, toilet paper, and garbage bags are good choices as well.
Give what you can and what you would want to receive. No gift is too small. If you find items inside and you need them, take them and know that you are cared about. Please remember that the mini-pantry belongs to all of us and take only those items that are needed, trusting that the mini-pantry will be there for you when you need it again.
Diane Schamehorn, a member of the Trinity United Church Outreach Committee who has been instrumental in doing the leg work to keep Huntsville’s Little Free Pantry stocked with the donated items said, “It is going very well so far. People have kept the area free of garbage, the donated items have been appropriate, and there seems to be a definite need. Please remember to share.”
As stated on the Little Free Pantry website littlefreepantry.org, “The Little Free Pantry is a grassroots, crowd-sourced solution to immediate and local need. Whether a need for food or a need to give, mini-pantries help feed neighbours, nourishing neighbourhoods.”
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