When we first opened the Little Yellow Free Pantry in 2021, I was worried. Worried that we would not get enough visitors.
And the first few days, my
worries were well founded. A few
people stopped by, but not many.
So, I made signs – printed
them in multiple languages – and hung them in very visible locations on our
fence so people walking and driving by our busy corner would see them.
We got a few more guests
coming for food, but not many.
So, I made and laminated signs
in English and Spanish and hung them at nearby bus stops. I tried to hang one at the Department of
Human Services office down the street, but a guard took it down.
And some more people came,
but not many.
So – I had a grand idea. I went to the Arlington Food Assistance
Center (AFAC) to talk to the professionals!!
I had never been there, but just pulled up and talked to the first
person I saw with a nametag standing outside the building.
I explained my “predicament” – that we had opened a Little Free Food Pantry, but we needed VISITORS!! I floated the idea past him of perhaps advertising somehow at AFAC.
The man looked at me
incredulously. “Ma’am,” he said, “Do you
know how many people we serve here??
You do not want to advertise (unspoken but clear in his
inflection – “your little tiny operation”) at AFAC”.
Well ok then. I drove back home and did a bit of research on
AFAC. If you Google the organization
today, here is what you see as their stats for 2023:
· 140,635 total family visits – a 29.4% increase over last
year
· 7,634 total families referred (18,942 individuals)
· 6,586 distinct families served (16,003 individuals)
· 5,375 children served
· Average 2,712 families served per week
· Of individuals served: 56% female, 33.6% children,12.8%
senior, 52.5% Hispanic/Latinx, 19.9% Black,8.9% Asian, 11.7% White, 1.3% Other
· Individuals with disabilities: 8.5% overall; 25% of
seniors, 2.9% of children*
So, ummm, yeah, perhaps
advertising at AFAC was not the right way to go…
Fast forward 3 years.
The Little Yellow Free
Pantry has pleeeeenty of guests!!! In fact, sometimes the number of visitors,
the back and forth from the storage shelves to the pantry to refill it over and
over, and the amount of food required to keep the operation running is overwhelming. But it is overwhelming in a good way,
if that makes sense.
Well, last night I took it
full circle. I was asked to go with
members of the Arlington Rotary Club to volunteer at AFAC!! I was so excited! I would get to see it “behind the scenes” and
help in preparing food for the community.
Our volunteer job for the
evening was taking large 50-pound bags of white rice and breaking them down
into smaller bags, sealing those, and stacking them in crates. A group of 11 volunteers worked for 1 hour,
and in that time, we made 620 bags of right to be given to AFAC clients. Isn’t that awesome? And it was fun!!
(Though, I must confess,
as we were scooping rice into bags, sealing them, stacking them – in the back
of my mind I thought, “Susan, THIS SAME TASK IS WAITING TO BE DONE AT YOUR
HOUSE! The LYFP is out of small bags
of rice and you need to decant the huge bags into smaller ones! You should be doing this for your pantry,
too!”. And, as soon as I came home, I
messaged the friend who did “rice duty” for the LYFP last time and asked if she
could come do it again soon (she can!). And trust me, the bags of rice we are
dealing with for our tiny pantry are NOT 50 lbs each 😊 .)
I was so happy to get to
visit and help out at AFAC. And, I must
confess, equally happy to come home to our muuuuch smaller, scaled-down
version of community food distribution.
Because everybody deserves good food.
*Note: I wish that I could
share statistics as extensive as AFAC’s to demonstrate the population that relies
on the Little Yellow Free Pantry. I wish
I could tell you the number of people, how many families, children, people with
disabilities, etc. come get food. But
here’s the thing: there are no rules or requirements to use the Little Yellow
Free Pantry. You don’t need to
register. You don’t need to show
papers. And you are not “checked in”
when you visit. It is private, anonymous
(except for the guests I have become friends with), and open 24/7. Sadly, that makes it impossible to track the
statistical impact. But I will tell you
this: 100% of the guests of the Little Yellow Free Pantry are GRATEFUL. That may be the only statistic we can “track”,
but it is good enough for me.
If you would like to help stock the LYFP, we these are the current urgent needs:
-
Single serving
boxes/bowls of cereal, any flavors (we are totally out)
-
Spaghetti-Os or canned
ravioli (we are totally out)
-
Packets of Indian
vegetarian meals (we are totally out)
-
Microwave popcorn
(we have 2 single serving bags left and will be out by morning)
-
Honey (a pantry
staple, we have only 3 bottles left)
-
Almond milk
(almost out)
-
Jelly, any flavor
(running low)
-
Single serving
packs of oatmeal
-
Single serving
drinks of any kind (except water and milk (we have enough of those for now) or
soda) – like Capri Suns, juice boxes/bottles, coconut water (we are out), cans
of lemonade, V8 blends, cans of iced tea, etc.
-
Canned items that
are not vegetables or fruit – things like evaporated milk, peppers, olives, bamboo
shoots, salsa, Rotel, etc.
-
Single serving
cups of ravioli (2 left)
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