LITTLE FREE PANTRY – an idea spreading across America
The mini pantry movement is a grassroots attempt to try to meet immediate and local food need by making small amounts of non-perishable food available. This idea merges a need for food and a need to give. Mini pantries help neighbors feed neighbors and nourish neighborhoods.
Little Free Pantries are small, watertight cupboard-like structures that operate in a similar fashion to the “Little Free Libraries” that are popping up all over. Instead of books, they contain a variety of non-perishable foodstuffs and other necessities (water bottles, hygiene products, etc.). Seen as a supplement to local food banks, these pantries offer a 24/7 access point to food. They are often found on church properties, and many churches are calling these mini-pantries a “Blessing Box”.
For the model and concept of a Little Free Pantry to work, it’s essential that the location has a need for food and a need to give. Such a pantry requires a “giving” community who will rally around it to support filling the pantry with non-perishable foods and personal hygiene products on a regular basis. It encourages community and love for our neighbor. Of course, there are choices to be made in deciding how such a pantry is built, installed and stocked. There are also concerns to be addressed such as location, upkeep and ultimate purpose.
The idea of a Little Free Pantry at Trinity has arisen informally in some church discussion groups (i.e. Sunday Morning Coffee and Tuesday Bible Study) and has appeared to generate quite a bit of interest. Roz Horn, a member of Trinity, agreed to 1) write up the idea so it could be considered by a wider group of Trinity members, and 2) convene a few meetings for discussion.
If you would like to find out more about this concept, and to discuss the possibility of perhaps having a Little Free Pantry at Trinity, please contact Roz Horn at [email protected]. If you do not have email, please call the Trinity Church office at 508-753-2989 and they will relay your interest. This idea is only at the very beginning of discovery, discussion and brainstorming. If there is interest and support for this idea, interested persons will be invited to meet (in small groups and/or by Zoom) and that group may eventually generate a plan and propose it to Council.
To begin our exploration of this whole concept, you might try a search for Little Free Pantry on Google. Do that – and then please pray. Divine guidance is always good!