My partner David and I have
embarked on a little ROAD TRIP! And as
fun as it is to hop in the car and DRIVE, exploring new places – it also means I
am neglecting my duties at the Little Yellow Free Pantry.
Luckily, we have a crack
PANTRY CREW that steps in while I am not there!!
You see, the Little Yellow
Free Pantry runs on a bit of a different system than most Free Pantries and
Free Libraries. Usually, when you see a “pantry
out in the wild”, it is dependent upon community members to physically FILL IT
UP. People bring cans of vegetables and
bags of rice and beans and boxes of pasta and physically put in IN THE PANTRY.
But since the inception of
the Little Yellow Free Pantry two years ago, we have run it on a different
model. We treat the LYFP as more of a
grocery store than a random pantry. We
organize it the same each time we fill it – 2 cans of meat on the left front
corner of the top shelf, canned goods filling the rest of the top shelf. Snacks in the small box on the bottom shelf,
2 single servings of fruit on the front left corner of the bottom shelf, rice
and pasta on the bottom shelf, etc. I
like to keep the system consistent so that visitors to the LYFP have a general idea
of where to find what they need. It’s
just like when you go to the grocery store – if you are there often, you know
which aisle to look for toilet paper in, right?
But to keep the pantry
running with that system, instead of donors putting their items directly into
the LYFP, we ask that they place items in a large bin on our front porch. Or have them delivered via Amazon or another
mail order service. Then we (David, me,
or a pantry crew member) carries all of those donations down to our pantry
storage area, where they are sorted. The
storage area is quite organized – like a grocery store stockroom! Canned meat in one area, drinks in another,
cake mix in another, toiletries in another…
It is hard work carrying everything down and shelving it, but it makes
it much easier when I go to fill the pantry (which is currently about 7 times per
day), because I know exactly where to find what is needed.
So, while we are away, the
beloved Pantry Crew takes over and keeps things running smoothly for Pantry
visitors. I am so thankful for that
crew!!
But here’s a secret: I miss the LYFP when we are gone! I miss the guests I have come to know. I miss opening the boxes of donations and
sorting them. And I miss carrying out my
wicker basket full of things to refill the pantry.
So, maybe that is why when
we pulled into Asheville, North Carolina and passed a Little Free Pantry outside of Grace Baptist Church, my
heart was happy. Only, when we drove by
a second time, I realized that it was nearly completely empty… Not only that – it was in bad shape. The plexiglass (maybe glass??) in the door
was missing.
 |
| Blessing Box - in need of repair, but more than that, IN NEED OF FOOD! |
We don’t have the tools or supplies with us to replace the plexiglass, but we COULD stock the pantry! So we took a trip to Aldi! It was so fun to fill the cart with a wide variety of items (and because it was Aldi, we got much more for our money, they have great prices!).
 |
| Cart full of food for the Blessing Box |
We took our haul back to
where we had seen the pantry (which they called a Blessing Box), and the
situation was even worse than it had looked from the road. The Box needed the plexiglass repaired and a
good cleaning. And the only things on
the shelves were 2 cans of food and a single tea bag… Sad. There seems to be a lot of need in that
community.
We carefully filled the shelves
while we shivered in the cold. Tiny
snowflakes were even falling! Even without
a cleaning or new paint, the Blessing Box looked much happier just being filled!
 |
| MUCH BETTER!! |
I hope that members of the
community who need the food find it. And
I hope that members of the community who have more than they need will fill
that box up again and again.
Because everybody deserves
good food.
Kindness Activist funds
used: $88.26
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