Happy 5th Birthday Little Yellow Free Pantry!

Who could have imagined that 5 years ago, when we cut the ribbon and opened the Little Yellow Free Pantry, it would become the symbol of COMMUNITY that it is today.  I for one would not have predicted how big this labor of love would grow.

In those first weeks the pantry was open, no one came.  No one knew the resource was available.  Cans of peaches and boxes of cereal would stay on the shelves a few days before finding their way to a new home.

We put up signs, oh did we put up signs.  We had signs in several languages asking people if they were hungry, explaining we had free groceries.  We hung signs all along our fence and at the local bus stops.

But still, few people came.  No one knew.

Then slowly, somehow, the word started to get out.  And magically, guests began to come.

And they haven’t stopped since.

I often say that people come to use the pantry 24 hours a day.  That may sound like an exaggeration, but it is not.  People come at 1 am after finishing a late-night shift.  People come at 7 am on their way to work or school.  People come at 3 pm for an afternoon snack.  People come at 6 pm to get food to make dinner for their families.

And the donations – donations for the pantry arrive 24 hours a day, too.  Often when I wake up and check the donation bin on the porch before work, there are new items in it.  Amazon and Costco deliveries come almost every day. 

It is hard to explain what the pantry means.

Of course, it is a resource for food.  That is the obvious.  But it is so much more.

It is a place for friendship.  It is a place for community.  It is a place for gratitude and acceptance.  It is a place for diversity.  It is a place for caring and a place for kindness.

I will be honest - 25-year-old me didn’t picture 60-year-old me sitting on my front porch steps chatting and serving a hot meal to someone experiencing homeless.  Or knowing how a guest who rents a room nearby likes his coffee and running down to make him a hot cup on a cold day.  Or talking with people who live in their cars or at the shelter or in a house that holds multiple generations of family. 

We have met so many amazing people through the pantry.  There’s “lentil man” – big surprise, he loves lentils.  There’s the little baby who has come to the pantry her whole life – first strapped onto her mamma’s back with a colorful cloth, then in a stroller, now walking on her own.  There’s the person who won’t take any money we offer, but happily sat with us on Christmas day just talking for an hour. 

And the donors.  The donors are amazing.  If you follow our stories, you know about E.A. Raven, the patron saint of the LYFP.  But you might not know about Pat Walkup, who donates bag after bag after bag of nutritious, tasty food.  And Whitney Engstrom, who kept sending food even after she moved to Hawaii.  And the kind person who set up an Amazon subscription to shelf stable Almond Milk to be delivered.  And “snack man” – who walks to the pantry on a break from work and fills it with perfectly arranged treats.  There are also the people who get food from the pantry, and also bring what they have to share what they can so that others might eat, too.  There’s Duffy who bakes amazing cookies to share.  The Girl Scout troops who keep us stocked in cookies.  And the many, many others who donate so much to keep the pantry alive.

And the Pantry Crew – the small but mighty group of amazing humans who keep the pantry running when we can’t.  And Danyi – who has spent HOURS breaking down boxes from donations to prepare them for recycling and cheerfully greeting guests and donors.  And the sweet people who seal bag after bag of rice and beans.  And the kind family who pours oil into jar after jar, so that donations of big jugs can help many families cook.

To most people it looks small.  After all, it is just 2 little shelves.  But those shelves feed a community.  Over $87,000 worth of food is donated and given away every year here.

But to me, even more important than the food is the people.

People who come to the LYFP get more than nutrition. 

They get respect.  And variety.  And a listening ear if they want to talk. 

That little box has changed lives.  Lives of donors.  Lives of guests.  And most certainly my life.

Happy birthday LYFP.  Here’s to many more.

Blue Kindness

This is a story of BLUE KINDNESS. 

Today was “National Hamburger Day”.  Of course it is a made-up holiday, but when you think about, what holiday isn’t??  My partner David got a very clever message from Smashburger (an awesome burger joint) that heralded the new holiday, and offered a buy one/get one free burger offer.  That was all the nudge we needed to head out for lunch.

We went to Smashburger in Alexandria, Virginia.  On our walk in, an older man stopped us and asked if we could spare any money for the homeless, and when I said, “No, sorry” he said, “I haven’t eaten in 4 days”.

And on we walked.

Of course, as we looked over the burger menu, my heart was heavy with guilt.  How could we eat TWO burgers when that man had NONE??  Sure, we didn’t know if he was being completely honest with us, but what does it matter really?  If a person is hard up enough to ask strangers for money or food I am of the opinion that if you can help them, you should. 

So, we ordered our two burgers, then added a third for the stranger outside.  Yeah, that sort of defeated the whole purpose of going out to get a free burger, but hey…

We went outside to sit at a table and wait for our order, and the man walked over to us as if he were going to ask for money again (perhaps he forgot he had already hit us up and we didn’t give).  Before he could talk, I said, “A burger is coming out for you soon”.  That seemed to make him happy, and he backed away a bit.  A guy gave him a buck, and he popped into the Starbucks next door.

Then a police car pulled up.  I figured they were just coming for coffee.  The homeless man came outside as the cops were ready to walk into Starbucks, and they said hi to him.  He immediately became defensive, to which the officer said, “Hey, it’s ok, I just said HELLO”…  That calmed him down, but it soon became clear that the cops were there on business, and the homeless man was the business.  They explained that Starbucks had called to report him and they were here to check up on the situation.

Alexandria Police vehicle (courtesy of the Alexandria PD Facebook page)

They started asking him a lot of questions, and from his response to them it seemed clear that he had gone through this type of thing before.  He didn’t argue with them and answered everything they asked.  He did get defensive at times, and the cops would gently calm him back down. 

So here’s the thing:  police officers often get a bad rap these days.  And yes, some of the things you hear and see on the news that happen between cops and citizens are horrible.  But seeing these two Alexandria, Virginia officers interact with this homeless man was such a good reminder of how helpful, respectful, and KIND police officers can be. 

The officers were just so genuine, so caring with him.  When he didn’t have an ID, they got his information verbally.  When he seemed offended that they would run his info to see if he had any warrants, they smiled and said they were just doing their job, and though they believed him, they needed to check.   When it started to rain, they walked him over to stand under an awning to keep dry.  One officer was inside talking to Starbucks employees while the other stood with the man, and he had calmed down so much and got so comfortable that I even heard him ask, “So, who do you think will win the NBA championship???”. 

It took a while to process everything, but every time during the interaction when he got agitated, they reminded him that they were not arresting him, that he wasn’t in trouble, but that Starbucks had called him in and they needed to check out the situation.

In the end, he got barred from Starbucks.  It looked like he had been barred from other places and he knew the drill.  He was ticked at the store, said they were lying about him.  And the officers were so sweet about it.  They didn’t side with the store, they just explained honestly that hey man, even if they are lying, it is their private business and they don’t want you in there, so don’t go in. 

The officers left, the burgers came, we gave him his, and off he went.  Not sure if we will ever see him again.  But I wish we could see those police officers again to thank them for doing their job with sincere respect and kindness.  They treated that man like an equal, and it was very impressive. 

Good on ya, Alexandria PD.