Who are Little Free Pantries for

Little Free Pantries are designed to support individuals and families in need by providing access to free, non-perishable food items and other essentials. They are intended for:

1. People Facing Food Insecurity: Individuals and families who struggle to afford groceries or who may have limited access to food resources.

2. Low-Income Households: Those living below or near the poverty line who might need extra support to make ends meet.

3. Homeless Individuals: People without stable housing who may need immediate access to food and supplies.

4. Anyone in want or need, including those who want or need to give.

5. A hungry kid after school.

6. A home cook who forgot to buy an onion.

7. Everyone.

8. You.

"seems like somebody's clearing them out"

Some of y’all may not know there's a closed stewards group on Facebook. Stewards ask for contacts or advice, pass along helpful information, and sometimes vent.

This past week, someone in the group posted about having witnessed the same woman clearing out food at two pantries. The poster was understandably frustrated. Sisyphean tasks can be frustrating (folding clothes?). While an endless task, stocking minis is not, however, futile.

Image taken from Instagram @sunnylandfreepantry.

A poem left a Sunnydale Little Pantry of Bellingham, WA, shows why.

The mini pantry movement is as much about love, good neighbors, freely giving without expectations, faith, as it is about food. These things, together, "make it possible for [folks] to survive when it was hard.”

What's your wish?

Jessica, here.

Sometimes I do interviews about the mini pantry movement. I get a lot of the same questions. What inspired you? How are mini pantries different from food banks? How many are there?

Today I was asked, “What’s your wish for this project going forward?”

Today my answer is this:

I most wish for the political will and systems-level change to end food insecurity and make mini pantries unnecessary. They could become Little Free Libraries, but the same change would probably end illiteracy, too. Maybe both continue as a "green" space where neighbors reduce waste.

In the meantime, I hope the movement keeps moving, as much for the benefit of stewards and hosting communities as for those who rely on what pantries contain. Minis are a practice in compassion, non-judgment, and trust even when it's difficult. If we want to live in this kind of community, we need practice.

We need practice.