People all over the US are making sure no one goes hungry by posting pantries on sidewalks and filling them up with canned goods and other necessities to help those in need.
According to Yahoo!Life, in Texas, a Little Free Library on a quiet residential street was repurposed and is now packed with canned goods, not books. In New York City, there is food stocked inside community outdoor fridges scattered on sidewalks. Blessing boxes or mini pantries are also lining the streets from Houston to Hawaii to help the hungry and those hit hard by the pandemic.
This is not a new concept as it started in 2016 when Jessica McClard, founder of the Mini-Pantry Movement, launched her Little Free Pantry Pilot with a standalone box stuffed with food and personal care items outside her home church in Fayetteville, Ark.
The idea has taken on new urgency amid the pandemic with more than 50 million new unemployment claims filed in the US since late March.
Pantries aren’t the only things keeping communities fed as in Brooklyn, Pam Tietze launched the Friendly Fridge, one of several free fridge projects in New York City.
It was painted by street artists Morgan Smith and Hugo Gyrl and features a shelf loaded with tin cans. The fridge has taken on a larger-than-life presence in its neighbourhood since Pam set it up in April.
She sourced the free fridge off Craigslist and wrote “free food” on it in English and Spanish.
