Little Free Pantries

FAIRFIELD – A group of Fairfield residents has found a clever way to help those in need.

They are building a series of 'Little Free Pantries,” small structures outside a person's home where non-perishable groceries are available to anyone who wants them. The pantries are enclosures that look like little telephone booths that stand on a pole a few feet off the ground and have a door, a roof and a window. The idea is that members of the public who wish to donate can simply stock the little pantry at their convenience and those who need the groceries can take them, no questions asked.

The first pantry

Fairfield resident Barbara Hays was the first person to build a Little Free Pantry, which she did in 2016 as part of her health-related fitness class at Maharishi International University. She built her pantry using tools from the Fairfield MakerSpace in the university's library, and installed it between the Ladies' Dome and Dome Market on campus.

Hays had been filling the pantry herself every week until late June when her husband fell ill and she couldn't keep up.

'It was always empty by the end of the week,” Hays said. 'There have been other donations besides mine. Fairfield is well known for its kindness and generosity. Let's show the rest of the country how to do this. Let's take care of each other.”

Hays said one of the most touching moments to come from this project was receiving a note thanking her for the pantry from a woman who took from the pantry when she needed to and is now 'paying it forward” by contributing to it.

Growing interest

Interest in Little Free Pantries is growing, and there's been a flurry of activity in the just the past couple of months.

Fairfield residents Mark Soth and Steve Blum are donating their time to build the little pantries. They installed a couple of them just earlier this week, one at 500 E. Burlington Ave. and another at 1300 S. Second St., and plan to do a few more this fall before the weather turns cold.

Soth said it's nice to make a couple of pantries at once because he and Blum have to rent special tools like an auger to make all of its parts. They can build a pantry in about a week.

'It's like a tiny house with a window, door, tar paper, and a roof with shingles and edging,” Soth said, adding with a smile, 'no gutters, though.”

Making a difference

Erica and Jeff Voreis have one outside their home at 605 E. Madison Ave. in Fairfield. Erica said she was inspired to get a Little Free Pantry after reading the book 'Maid,” about a single mom who works multiple jobs and yet struggles to get by. It made her think about how she could make a difference in the lives of those in need.

A Facebook friend posted that she didn't see any Little Free Pantries in Fairfield. Erica took that as a challenge to create one.

'I like donating to The Lord's Cupboard [food pantry], but the hours they're open don't work for my schedule,” she said. 'And that made me think that if it's hard for me to get over there, how does it work for people who pick up those donations?”

Erica decided that a Little Free Pantry was the perfect solution, because people can drop off or take food whenever they please. She researched plans for a pantry, and asked her dad to make one. The family installed it in early June, and since then people have been using it. When she checks it, she'll notice someone has dropped off food.

'It's never been completely empty. It gets low at times, and there are times when it's been full,” she said.

GROUP FORMED

Debbie Pogel said she read about Little Free Pantries a year ago. Her interest was piqued further when she learned about Hays's pantry, and later hearing about the Voreises doing one, too. She and Sandy Stimson are now coordinators for the local group of pantry enthusiasts and in charge of finding volunteers.

In early August, Voreis created a Facebook page called Fairfield Iowa Little Free Pantries, where group members post progress on their pantry construction and where pantries can be found. As of Wednesday, the group had 70 members. There are now five Little Free Pantries in Fairfield. The website Mapping.LittleFreePantry.org/ shows the location of Little Free Pantries around the country.

The group recently became affiliated with Divine Star Charities, run by Vaju Moorthy, who once a month donates the proceeds from her lunches at Phoenix Rising Hall to a charity. Pogel said the next phase in the project is establishing a list of volunteers who can stock the pantries on a regular basis, so that responsibility doesn't have to fall solely on the homeowners who have already spent time and money to build the pantries.

Filling gaps

Rosanne Wagger, in charge of outreach for the group, said organizations like The Lord's Cupboard, Carry On Bags and local churches do a great job feeding the needy, but they can't do it all. She hopes that the Little Free Pantries can help fill in the gaps.

'When you use this pantry, nobody is watching you, and nobody needs to know who you are,” Wagger said. 'I'm sure for many people, it's hard to accept things for free. We hope this is a comfortable way for people to fill some of the needs they have.”